Apple’s job postings show that it has a team exploring the development of a custom chip that better handles health information from sensors in its devices. The move demonstrates Apple's ability to build custom chips as needed, and reflects Apple's emphasis on vertical integration compared to other technology companies. The development of custom-made chips with limited functionality will help Apple add new features to the device, improve hardware efficiency, and protect its intellectual property to prevent other companies from imitating new features.
"We will be hiring a sensor ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) architect to help develop ASICs for Apple's future product sensors and sensor systems," said the Apple Health Sensing Hardware team's job advertisement.
It is unclear which indicators these
sensors will be used to detect, but it seems to be used to detect human physiological indicators. According to the recruitment information released by the Apple Health Sensing Hardware Team on August 1, it hopes to hire an engineer to “help develop health and fitness sensors”. The recruitment information for June shows that the team is developing technologies related to optical sensors. The current Apple Watch incorporates an optical sensor for detecting heart rate.
Apple designed chips for the iPhone, iPad, AirPods and Apple Watch. Bloomberg published an article earlier this year that Apple plans to develop chips for Mac computers.
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