Major feature not expected on the Apple Watch until next year could be on the device this year

The Apple Watch Series 4 has great features for those wearers trying to monitor their health. The heart rate monitor will alert you if your heart starts beating too fast or too slowly, and the electrocardiogram (ECG) feature scans for abnormal heart rhythms that could be consistent with atrial fibrillation (Afib); the latter can lead to a blood clot, stroke, heart failure, and death. And don't forget the fall detection feature that will call for help and alert your emergency contacts if you've fallen and cannot summon help.

On September 10th, Apple is expected to unveil the Apple Watch Series 5. We could see the timepiece equipped with a blood pressure monitor based on one rumor, and according to 9to5Mac, another health-related feature that we didn't expect to see until next year just might make the cut. That would be a native sleep tracking monitor for the Apple Watch. Many other smartwatches offer this, and an app is available for the Apple Watch that will track your "ZZZ-time." But today's report, which cites sources inside Apple, says that the company could announce sleep tracking for the Apple Watch as soon as next week; the new capability would not require any special hardware to run.

Owners of the currently available Apple Watch Series 4 will be on pins and needles, hoping that they won't have to purchase a new model to get the native sleep tracking capabilities. Since the Series 5 watch looks exactly like the Series 4 model, the chances are that no hardware changes will be necessary to add the feature, good news for those with the Series 4 timepiece.

Originally given the codename "Burrito," Apple will reportedly call the sleep tracking feature "Time in Bed tracking" and it will allow users to wear their Apple Watch to bed if they so desire. If a person owns more than one Apple Watch, he or she will have to choose one particular model to be the "designated bedtime Apple Watch." While the owner of the device is sleeping, the Apple Watch will use its multiple sensors to track the person's movement, heart rates, and noises that might be made. The Health app will report on the quality of the Apple Watch wearer's sleep, and there will be a brand new Sleep app for the timepiece. Apple realizes that most users charge their watch at night and that this will be impossible to do if the device is monitoring the quality of the owner's sleep. So Apple has devised a reminder that will tell Apple Watch owners to charge their watch before going to bed.

The breakout feature on the Apple Watch Series 4 is the electrocardiogram (ECG). Since Apple released the Series 4 timepiece last year, we've seen a few watches include an ECG monitor. Samsung went one better with its recently unveiled Samsung Galaxy Watch Active 2; not only does Sammy's new watch include an ECG scanner of its own (which is expected to get FDA approval next year) it also offers a fall detection feature that can save the lives of older users. This is another capability taken from the Apple Watch and will be enabled in the first quarter of next year. With fall detection, the watch can detect when the person wearing the device has fallen and sends out an audible alarm while at the same time it alerts the watch owner's emergency contacts. If the watch doesn't detect any motion, it assumes that the person who has fallen is unconscious. At that point, 9-1-1 is called and a message sent out with the location of the injured person included. This feature is disabled for Apple Watch Series 4 owners aged 64 or younger (although it can be enabled by anyone at any age); the feature is automatically enabled if the device owner is 65 or older.