Apple wants to build a custom health chip for processing biometric data

Apple is working on a dedicated custom health chip that would help it process biometric data from its suite of devices, according to job listings unearthed by CNBC today The company currently designs custom chips for its iPhone and is rumored to switch to custom processors for its Mac line of computers as early as 2020 Currently, the Apple Watch is powered by the custom S3 chip.

CNBC reports that these new job listings indicate Apple would like to go one step further with regard to health data and integrate a custom chip that would be solely responsible for processing metrics like heart rate and helping improve battery efficiency on devices like the Apple Watch One listing reads, "We are looking for sensor ASIC architects to help develop ASICs for new sensors and sensing systems for future Apple products We have openings for analog as well as digital ASIC architects" Another says Apple is looking for engineers to "Help develop health, wellness, and fitness sensors" The job listings have since been removed.

We don't know if Apple is simply looking to integrate better health tracking and monitoring features or sensors into its existing chip sets for the iPhone or Apple Watch, or if it's interested in developing a custom chip that would work in tandem with other hardware components At the moment, the Apple Watch uses a custom optical sensor for measuring heart rate. . Source