Apple Watch 6 leak just revealed top 5 features

The Apple Watch 6 is still several months away from making its debut, but that hasn't stopped intel on Apple's next wearable from surfacing online. 

The latest Apple Watch 6 leak comes to us from YouTuber Nikias Molina, who teased early yesterday (April 30) that they had "some stuff" to share about the new watch. Molina followed up with a slew of features we should expect to see in the Apple Watch 6 and its S6 chip, including sleep tracking, a pulse oximeter, longer battery life and mental health sensors.

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Molina says their leaks are exclusive, but we've actually learned about many of these features from more reputable analysts like Jon Prosser and EverythingApplePro.

The morsel about battery life does stand out, though. We haven't heard anything yet about Apple's plans to tack on extra hours to its smartwatch's lifespan. As we noted in our Apple Watch 5 review, the 18-hours of juice is a little disappointing compared to the battery life of certain competitors. 

It's rumored that the Samsung Galaxy Watch 2, which could launch alongside the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 around the same time as the Apple Watch 6 and iPhone 12, will sport a larger battery. It already offered 4 days on one charge, so perhaps Apple is ready to catch up.

As for sleep tracking and the pulse oximeter, in late March we saw a beta version of watchOS 7 that revealed the Apple Watch would finally get sleep monitoring and blood oxygen monitoring this year. 

Blood oxygen monitoring, also known as SPO2 monitoring, measures the oxygen saturation level of your blood. A pulse oximeter would support SPO2 monitoring in the Apple Watch 6, letting users know when their blood oxygen falls below a certain concentration. 

Pulse oximetry is widely used for detecting breathing abnormalities while sleeping, though when tracked closely can identity forms of pneumonia including silent hypoxia. In other words, it can save lives.

And so could certain mental health tools. A few weeks ago a leak suggested the Apple Watch 6 would be capable of warning users about stress levels and impending panic attacks. 

While knowing you're on the cusp of a panic attack might add to your anxiety, the information might help people manage their stress. It seems like the feature will materialize as a more proactive version of the Apple Watch's "breathe" buddy notification.

Molina's leak also noted the Apple Watch 6 would sport Apple's S6 chip, which was pretty much a given. But the rest of their information stacks up with the recent swell of Apple Watch rumors. 

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