News
Apple Watch Series 8 Could Tell You If You Have A Fever
The body temperature sensor won’t function like a traditional thermometer and give on-demand readings.
According to Bloomberg journalist Mark Gurman, the Apple Watch Series 8 will ship with a body temperature sensor. The sensor would extend the device’s health tracking capabilities, something the Apple Watch Series 7 failed to accomplish.
Gurman shared this information last week in his Power On newsletter. “You can expect some new health-tracking features in this year’s Apple Watch,” he wrote.
Besides the regular Apple Watch Series 8, the body temperature sensor is expected to make its way into a new rugged edition of the smartwatch. Unfortunately, the lower-end Apple Watch SE, which is also scheduled for release later this year, is unlikely to get it.

The body temperature sensor won’t function like a traditional thermometer and give on-demand readings. Instead, it will alert the user when their temperature increases by a certain number of degrees above their baseline, which can vary from person to person.

It’s likely that Apple has decided to go with this approach to body temperature detection because it doesn’t require the sensor to be highly accurate.
Also Read: How To Clean Your Apple Watch Like A Pro
Gurman also stated that other hardware changes would probably be minor. The Apple Watch Series 8 will probably use the same chip as the previous two models because Apple’s chip development team has been focused on the new M2 chips.
The use of the aging chip could keep the price of the Apple Watch Series 8 the same as the Apple Watch Series 7 despite the rising inflation and supply chain bottlenecks all tech manufacturers are currently experiencing.
On the other hand, Apple didn’t hesitate to increase the base price of the new MacBook Air from $999 to $1,199 when it announced the device in June 2022, so it’s possible that it won’t hesitate to increase the base price of the Apple Watch as well.
News
Microsoft Plans $10 Billion-Plus Gulf Expansion Despite Iran Conflict
Security is shaping Microsoft’s approach, from resilience work with governments to what it will say about how the money splits by country.
Microsoft is planning more than $10 billion of investment across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Kuwait through 2030, Vice Chair and President Brad Smith told Reuters, calling the spending schedule aggressive. The Iranian conflict that began on February 28 has not persuaded the company to scale back.
“We’re sustaining all the investments we planned to make before this conflict started, and we are in fact adding to them,” Smith said. The $10 billion-plus total does not, however, show how large those additions are.
The investment, which Smith described as part of Microsoft’s continued infrastructure expansion, is aimed at cloud and AI infrastructure and at the company’s growing regional operations. Microsoft also intends to put more than $400 million into subsea and terrestrial connectivity across the Middle East by 2030.
The spending fits the region’s own ambitions too. Gulf governments have been investing heavily in AI infrastructure as part of a push to diversify their economies beyond oil and gas and turn themselves into global technology hubs. Major cloud and AI providers have been drawn in part by the land and relatively low-cost energy on offer.
Microsoft is widening its partnerships with regional AI companies, though not on identical terms. In 2024, it invested $1.5 billion in Abu Dhabi-based G42 for a minority stake, and Smith currently sits on G42’s board. Saudi Arabia’s Humain and Qatar’s Qai are working with Microsoft on selected priority areas, but Smith said the company does not plan to make capital investments in either.
Also Read: Egypt’s Mobile Wallets Are Booming, But Cash Still Has Power
The conflict has added another strand to Microsoft’s work in the region. Since it began, Smith said, the company has supported regional partners with digital resilience assessments, and it is now working with Gulf countries through a digital resilience initiative focused on preparedness and the protection of critical data.
So far, the company has given no country-by-country breakdown of the investment, citing security among other factors. So while the headline figure is public, how Microsoft divides the spending among the four countries is not.
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