MacRumors

Several concept images for the rumored "Healthbook" app that may be included with iOS 8 were today published on the MacRumors forums by member CarlosGQ. According to 9to5Mac, the site that shared the original Healthbook rumors, the app mockup "vaguely" resembles the actual app that Apple is working on and thus hints at what such an app might look like.

According to sources, the mockups are "vaguely" the right idea. Of course, Apple is likely testing multiple different user-interfaces for this software, and since we are several months out from an official introduction, things can and likely will change (even drastically)…

Healthbook, which is a health-related app reportedly in iOS 8, is said to pull in health-related data from several sources, including Apple's much-rumored sensor-laden iWatch and the iPhone itself. Healthbook may be able to manage and track weight loss and monitor and store fitness statistics like steps taken, calories burned, and miles walked.

Rumors suggest it can also monitor vital signs like blood pressure, hydration levels, and glucose levels, aggregating information to provide an overall picture of health. As pictured, the app is said to have a card-style design much like Passbook.

Along with commenting on the Healthbook mockups, 9to5Mac has reiterated some information on both the Healthbook app and the iWatch to refute a report from MobiHealthNews earlier this week that tempered some of the expectations surrounding Apple's iWatch.

While MobiHealthNews cast doubt on the iWatch's ability to sense glucose and hydration levels, 9to5Mac argues the device may indeed have those abilities as the Healthbook app is able to read glucose-related data and track hydration. It will not, however, track stress or women's health/pregnancy as previously reported.

Though many aspects of the iWatch and the Healthbook app remain unknown, iWatch rumors do generally agree the device will include several important health-related sensors able to track elements like sleep and exercise. As 9to5Mac points out, Apple has some significant hurdles to overcome with both hardware design and regulatory bodies, so it continues to be unclear what the final device and its accompanying app might include.

Sony may provide Apple with image sensors for both the front and rear cameras in a future iPhone, according to a new report from Japanese business site Nikkei, which suggests that Apple and Sony are in negotiations that would double Sony's shipments to the Cupertino company in 2015.

The Japanese firm already supplies nearly all of the CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensors for the current iPhone models' rear-mounted main cameras. Apple is likely looking to switch to Sony sensors for the secondary camera on the screen side, used for taking self-portraits.

Sony recently purchased a new manufacturing plant, reportedly aimed at stepping up production in order to comply with Apple's request for more sensors. Sony will invest 35 billion yen in the facility, which will boost its monthly production capacity by 25 percent.

Since the iPhone 4s, Sony has supplied Apple with sensors for the iPhone's rear camera, while OmniVision has supplied the sensors for the front camera.

Historically, the iPhone's front camera has been of a significantly lower quality than its rear camera. For example, the rear camera in the iPhone 5s, which utilizes a sensor from Sony, is eight megapixels while the front camera is just 1.2 megapixels. While Apple has worked hard to improve the rear camera with each iteration of the iPhone, the front-facing camera has received little attention.

Sony, a camera manufacturer itself, is well-known for its impressive sensors and its work getting large, light-absorbing sensors into small cameras. Apple too has focused its efforts on improved sensors and low-light picture taking capabilities even as its competitors, like Nokia, aim to focus only on higher megapixels.

Apple has greatly improved its iPhone camera with each iteration, and the iPhone 5s, its best camera yet, utilizes a larger sensor with a lower aperture for higher quality low-light photos. It is likely that with Sony supplying sensors, the front-facing camera in a future iPhone could see some significant improvements as well.

It does not appear that the Sony-sourced front-facing camera sensors will make it into the iPhone 6 given the timeline specified in the article, and will instead be included in a future iPhone.

As for the iPhone 6, it remains unclear what camera improvements Apple may implement. While an initial rumor suggested the company would continue utilizing the 8-megapixel rear sensor in the iPhone 5s, a subsequent report pointed to a 10-megapixel or higher sensor for the rear-camera with an f/1.8 aperture and an improved lens filter.

Apple's iPhone 6 will reportedly gain a "bezel-free" display when it launches later this year, according to a report from The Korea Herald focusing on both the next-generation iPhone and Samsung's upcoming Galaxy S5 smartphone.

No significant details about Apple's plans for the iPhone 6 are shared in the report, with the majority of it focused on the Galaxy S5 and only a few sentences noting that Apple is working on a "similar" prototype with bezel-free display and fingerprint sensor. Samsung will reportedly be using a more standard fingerprint sensor than the display-wide fingerprint scanner or iris scanner that had previously been rumored for the device.

“Scanning fingerprints on the entire screen, which was much talked about recently, will be available in the latter half of this year as there are still technological hurdles to overcome,” [the source] added, hinting that the production yield for the full-screen fingerprint scanner is still far from satisfactory.

The source said that Samsung’s top rival Apple is also testing a similar prototype sporting a bezel-less screen that features a fingerprint scanner.

Last November, Bloomberg reported that the iPhone 6 was planned to feature a larger display with "glass that curves downward at the edges", perhaps alluding to a bezel-less design in which the edge of the device is formed by the display glass itself rather than a separate bezel. A report last month from The Wall Street Journal claimed that the iPhone 6 "won't include a curved display", but it is possible that both reports could be correct if the design were to include a flat display panel fused to glass (or sapphire) cover that curved at the edges.

Evidence has made clear that Apple is investing heavily in sapphire for its future products with the company working with partner GT Advanced Technologies to start production of the material in a new Arizona plant. Earlier reports suggested the sapphire is likely for the next-generation iPhone, but G 4 Games points to new reports from Asian supply chain sources speaking to MyDrivers [Google Translate] and PCPOP [Google Translate] claiming the iWatch will be the first Apple device to be equipped with the scratch-resistant material.

According to the reports, the biggest factor in using sapphire for the iWatch and not the next iPhone is cost, with the price of sapphire driving up the retail price tag of the iPhone. A price increase could be detrimental to Apple as the iPhone already has a premium price tag.

According to Chinese media sources (which are citing “Taiwan supply chain insiders”), Apple has put a lot of effort into fitting the next iPhone with a sapphire screen. These sources claim that “beta” iPhone units (read: some of the prototypes Apple is currently testing) are already sporting sapphire protected panels, but unfortunately, chances are that they will not make it on the final product.

The problem is not necessarily due to low yield (which still is a problem, at least until Apple’s [Arizona] plant will be fully operational), but mainly because fitting a sapphire screen on the next iPhone would make its price skyrocket.

Fortunately though, the same sources also say that Apple will manage to fit sapphire screens on the rumored iWatch. The smartwatch is said to feature a 2 inch panel, and evidently, the production costs would be much lower.

Though the iWatch would certainly benefit from a sapphire layer to protect its display, the volume of raw material and equipment Apple is purchasing hints at much bigger plans than a 2-inch watch display. Apple allegedly has ordered enough furnaces to manufacture approximately 200 million 5-inch sapphire displays, a volume which would meet the yearly demand for its iPhone product line. In 2013, Apple sold approximately 150 million iPhones worldwide.

Shipping estimates for new orders of the redesigned Mac Pro have now slipped to April in many of Apple's stores around the world (via MacGeneration) [Google Translate].

This is the second time in two months that the Mac Pro has showed a change in shipping estimates, as Apple's stores around the world began to show a "March" shipping estimate last month. While the new shipping estimates do not necessarily reflect a worsening supply given that shipping delays have been persistent so far throughout the computer's launch, the changes do indicate that Apple has yet to make up significant ground as lead times appear to be remaining in the six-to-seven week range.

The new April shipping estimates are in effect for stock and custom configurations throughout Apple's online stores for Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) and Asia Pacific (APAC) operational regions. Estimates in Apple's stores for the Americas remain at March for the time being.

Update: Shipping estimates in the Americas have now also moved to April for all models.

Last month, a report from Digitimes stated that Apple supplier TSMC was preparing to begin production on fingerprint sensors for the iPhone 6, and was said to be moving to a larger 12-inch fab from the current 8-inch fab to increase production efficiency. However, Digitimes is now reporting that TSMC will once again be utilizing its 8-inch processing for the iPhone 6, as Apple has cited concerns with the yield rate of the 12-inch fab.

Apple previously decided to have TSMC produce fingerprint sensors for its next-generation iPhone at the foundry's 12-inch facilities using a 65nm process, the sources noted. However, acknowledging risks associated with 12-inch WLP technologies, Apple has finally chosen TSMC's 8-inch processing which enables mature yield rates for WLP to produce the fingerprint sensors, the sources said.

The report also notes that TSMC will continue to contract the packaging process other firms as a result of moving back to the 8-inch processing. Previously, TSMC was said to be handling the packaging process itself in order to centralize control over the component.

The Touch ID fingerprint sensor was said to be a key factor contributing to the limited supplies of the iPhone 5s at its launch last September, with low yield rates at packaging firm Xintec and iOS 7-sensor integration slowing production. However, with several of those issues ironed out and TSMC now able to utilize a refined process, launch supplies of the next-generation iPhone are likely to be more readily available.

Apple's much-rumored iWatch has been depicted as a standalone device able to function as a typical smart watch and monitor everything from glucose to blood pressure, but a new report from Brian Dolan of MobiHealthNews (via NetworkWorld) suggests that the iWatch's actual functionality may be somewhat more simple, with Apple aiming to make the health-tracking experience more accessible to everyone.

In a report that covers existing rumors and predictions for Apple's iWatch, Dolan aggregates known information and adds a few tidbits from his own sources, which he says "have limited but direct knowledge of Apple's plans for the iWatch and Healthbook."

While rumors have indicated the iWatch may be a standalone device able to function without an iPhone, that may not be the case. Poised as a peripheral device, the iWatch may require connectivity to a smartphone for its full functionality.

Throughout 2013, Apple made a number of health and sensor related hires for its iWatch, indicating the device could potentially track a wide range of health-related functions with advanced sensors, including glucose sensing and hydration levels.

Actual iWatch functionality may be somewhat more simple, however, as many of the hires are said to be focusing on making basic health-tracking functions more effective. Some of the hires' more exotic expertise, in fields like blood and glucose monitoring, may not make it into the iWatch.

A source tells us that the team Apple has assembled is intended to ensure that the health sensing capabilities of the device are efficacious. Some fitness tracking devices available today primarily give users feedback in the form of an arbitrary points system — like Nike Fuel. Apple will likely not do this, but instead focus on real metrics like calories. Having a team with such advanced pedigrees will help ensure Apple's device is accurate. Don't expect glucose sensing though.

Today's report confirms the existence of the Healthbook concept that was detailed in late January, but could not verify the app's rumored name. The app is said to serve as a repository for all health and fitness information and could integrate not only with the iWatch, but other health-tracking apps and devices on the market. It focuses on simple concepts like exercise, diet, sleep, stress, and medication adherence.

Apple's overall focus with the iWatch is said to be on the experience rather than the technology. With the iWatch and its accompanying health-related app, Apple aims to make health tracking "a mass market behavior" by increasing its mass market appeal and moving the concept beyond something that interests just "data-obsessed" people.

The report speculates that Apple's recent FDA meeting may have been about keeping the iWatch unregulated, which would inherently limit its ability to collect and analyze medical data and prevent it from collecting data from regulated medical devices, again pointing to a somewhat more simple device than previous rumors have suggested.

Information on the iWatch remains sketchy, but we may begin to get a clearer picture as we creep nearer to a release date. It is unknown when Apple plans to launch the iWatch, but in the fall alongside iOS 8 is a strong possibility.

Though Brian Dolan does not have an established track record for reporting rumors, he was the first to report on Apple's hiring of former Masimo Chief Medical Officer Michael O'Reilly.