Apple will launch more healthcare-related services this year, Tim Cook has revealed in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer. The CEO didn’t quite elaborate on the exact nature of those upcoming services, just that Apple has “been working on [them] for multiple years.” During the interview, Cook stressed Apple’s deepening commitment to health and wellness products. He said that in the future, if anybody asks what Apple’s greatest contribution to humankind is, “health” will be the answer.
ResearchKit, a stage for clinical studies hosted by universities and medical researchers, and CareKit, which enables patients to deal with their illnesses, are a huge deal, Cook said. “We are democratizing [healthcare]. We are taking what has been with the institutions and empowering the individual to manage their health,” he added.
Apple has definitely been ramping up its health and wellness efforts in recent years. In addition to releasing ResearchKit and CareKit, it additionally planned the Apple Watch Series 4 with an inherent electrocardiogram, enabling it to potentially save lives by recognizing heart issues, for example, irregular heartbeats.
Beside discussing Apple’s healthcare-related ambitions, Cook likewise slammed Qualcomm in the interview. He said the chipmaker charges exorbitant costs for its licenses instead of offering its portfolio “on a fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory basis.” If you’ll recall, the two tech giants have been fighting it out in court for some time, with the chipmaker blaming Cupertino for encroaching on its licenses. Most as of late, Qualcomm paid $1.5 billion for security bonds to guarantee Apple can’t sell its older iPhones in Germany.
