Apple has filed a patent for the next iteration of the AirPods that could mean the little wireless earphones become a fitness tracker in and of themselves. The patent shows that the AirPods will contain biometric sensors.

While biometric sensors in headphones aren’t a new proposition- the Jabra Elite Sport already have this - it is exciting to see Apple is working on this technology.

The sensors aren’t just limited to simple heart-rate monitors either. It appears there are plans for EKG sensors, that monitor the electrical activity of your heart, impedance cardiography sensors, and more.

Another exciting line from the patent is: “In some embodiments, the housing of the earbud can be symmetric so that the earbud can be worn interchangeably in either a left or a right ear of a user.” So we could be seeing the end of trying to figure out which bud goes in which ear.

As this is just a patent there’s no guarantee that we’ll see this technology in real life but, as always, as soon as we know more we’ll let you know.

Source: techradar