A new patent for an Apple Watch body temperature sensor suggests that this feature might make its debut in the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8.
Apple Watch body temperature sensor revealed in a patent
The patent text does not specifically mention the Apple Watch as a device suitable for this sensor, but the accompanying drawing clears up any confusion as to the purpose of this sensor. As you’re able to see for yourself above, one of the patent drawings depicts a device resembling an Apple Watch with a dedicated body temperature sensor. Read:Important steps when setting up Apple Watch as new
The patent abstract outlines a solution that takes advantage of both a temperature sensor and a differential temperature probe. One end is in contact with the desired surface such as your skin while the other is connected to a temperature sensor which itself is attached to a “back surface such as a back crystal of a smartwatch.“ Apple’s algorithm then calculates the difference between two ends of a probe to derive a differential temperature measurement from it.
Reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has predicted that the upcoming Apple Watch Series 8 models would only offer basic body temperature-sensing functions at launch due to supposed reliability and accuracy issues. That’s because skin temperature can vary wildly depending on ambient conditions.
But if this patent grant is anything to go by, it looks like Apple may have solved those problems—the patent calls Apple’s solution a “high-precision” and “high-accuracy” absolute temperature sensor. The patent was filed on June 23, 2025.
(1/3)Apple canceled body temperature measurement for Apple Watch 7 because the algorithm failed to qualify before entering EVT stage last year. I believe Apple Watch 8 in 2H22 could take body temperature if the algorithm can meet Apple’s high requirements before mass production.
— 郭明錤 (Ming-Chi Kuo) (@mingchikuo)July 27, 2025
It’s credited to four Apple engineers, among them Chad Bossetti and James Clements. Both men are entrusted with some pretty important roles. Rossetti spent more than seven years in Apple’s Health Technologies group. And his colleague Clements still serves as a mechanical R&D engineering manager with the Health Technologies group. Read:How to watch YouTube on Apple Watch
