Apple's AirPods wireless earbuds are set to get many new functions with the upcoming release of iOS 15. One of the most important features from the perspective of people who forget where they left their earbuds is the ability to connect a set of AirPods to an Apple ID. This gives you the same ability to locate it that company users currently enjoy with their iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and iMac.
According to the iOS 15 beta code, it appears that you can register AirPods Pro and AirPods Max with an Apple ID. You can then take advantage of Apple's Find My network to locate lost earphones or headphones.
The same code indicates that unlike the remote lock and wipe feature that Apple offers for its computing devices. There is no way to prevent anyone who finds the earphones from removing the Apple ID pairing. It also appears that Apple is preparing for an important health-related announcement. Perhaps at the next annual iPhone event that usually takes place in September.
Apple's machine learning research team published a study showing how to use wireless earbuds to analyze a person's breathing rate. This is done by recording the sound of his breathing through the built-in microphones.
According to the published paper: Shortness of breath is a common symptom in many acute and chronic clinical conditions. Severe shortness of breath often occurs during an asthma attack or heart attack. Whereas, chronic shortness of breath is often a symptom of poor cardiovascular fitness, obesity, COPD, and CHF. Effort dyspnea is also a strong, independent predictor of mortality and is a commonly used clinical scale to assess and monitor disease progression.
And your breathing can be an indicator of a whole host of conditions some of which are life-threatening and your overall fitness level. The study concluded that the sound of our breathing is a viable signal to approximate the respiratory rate. Plus, being able to use devices like AirPods to do this is a more acceptable way. This is compared to the usual method of going to the doctor's office or laboratory.
For months, rumors have been circulating that Apple might announce a variety of health-related functions for the second generation of AirPods Pro. So the timing of the study seems ideal to get developers and healthcare professionals to start thinking about the many ways these devices can be used.
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