The Apple Watch project ditched most health sensors for inconsistent behavior

The Apple Watch release date is fast approaching, and the Wall Street Journal is now shedding some light on the whole project, which was arguably four years in the making, sucking a lot of money, human resources, and trial and error undertakings. 

Envisioned also as a health accessory, the Apple Watch was initially meant to be laden with sensors for logging heart rate, stress levels, and even blood pressure. Out of these, only the heart rate monitoring function stayed, as the rest behaved pretty inconsistently for Apple's standards, especially if there was too much hair on the hand, or dry skin.

Even if Apple managed to finally crack the sensor conundrum, if the Watch was scheduled to measure your blood pressure reliably, and the readings used in apps for health monitoring or advice, it would have to get FDA approval as a medical gadget. Apple's CEO Tim Cook and the team met with FDA officials, but apparently concluded that it's not yet time to release such a device, especially in a brand new and untested in terms of popularity product like the Apple Watch. The gizmo should be released in April, starting at $349, and going north of $4,000 for the gold version.

source: WSJ