The Apple Watch could have been a proper health-monitoring device. But the FDA won’t allow it

Apple’s new smart watch, unveiled by Tim Cook yesterday, had incredible potential. But its functionality has been hindered by technical hitches – and, especially, overzealous legislators. Their cloying presence must have been felt at every product meeting. Engineers working on Apple’s watch did so with the rasping breath of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on the back of their necks.

The result? Apple is nowhere near giving us a device that allows comprehensive self-monitoring of health – thanks to federal regulations. Public health services everywhere tell us that prevention is better than cure. But the FDA doesn’t trust Apple, or any manufacturer of wearable tech, to gather the sort of intimate and precise medical data that could actually prolong your lifespan. It has modified its regulations specifically to allow wearable tech to monitor ‘general wellness’ – but for now anything more probing (or intrusive) is out of the question.

This is hugely frustrating for Apple. In a locked drawer somewhere in Cupertino, there is bound to be a blueprint for a simple and engaging device that would have normalised intensive self-monitoring of health.