Apple boasted that its first ever smartwatch device is equipped with sensors that can keep track of the wearer's fitness conditions and exercise routines, Venture Beat reported.
But for medical professionals and healthcare industry experts, they are still unsure how the Apple Watch can revolutionize overall health management.
Their curiosity stems from Apple's lack of information for the other features of the device. Sure, the Watch's sensors can monitor fitness levels but the company didn't go into detail as to the device's other benefits and applications, according to Reuters.
"The heart rate sensor is provocative," Bay Are physician Molly Maloof said. "I'm curious to learn more about this. I would like to know if it measures heart rate while you are in motion or if you need to pause for it to work accurately."
"For everyone out there wondering if this will measure heart rate variability, I'm guessing this is a possibility because other wrist HR sensors claim to do this," she added. But there aren't any public press releases that they are aiming to do this, so it's still a question."
For Zack Lynch, Neurotechnology CEO and biometric sensors expert, the uncertainty surrounding the Apple Watch can be cleared up through apps that will take advantage of the device's sensors.
"Somebody did some deep research on that and invested a lot of money in it," he said. "The sensors in the Watch might be good for wellness apps because they focus on measuring something so precisely."
"Now that it's out, there's a great opportunity for developers to create apps that find interesting things with a combination of the various sensors on the watch," he added.
Despite the health-related features of the Apple Watch, Jeff Margolis, chief executive of Welltok, a company that connects healthcare companies with their clients, is not optimistic about the long-term benefits of the device.
"Apple - innovative as they may be - will likely not be a major driver of change in healthcare," he said. "They will make personal health technologies more ubiquitous and cheaper, and they will drive access and interest in people capturing their own health data, but then what?"
"Companies like Apple are bringing gadgets to the masses, but they are not driving fundamental change or reducing costs to the system," he added.