Apple may be closing in on a holy grail breakthrough Steve Jobs dreamed of

Apple’s efforts to bring non-invasive glucose tracking to the Apple Watch have been well documented over the last decade or more. However, we’ve seen little to suggest the efforts are about to bear fruit.

However, a new report suggests the technology, which would potentially be a life-changing breakthrough for diabetes sufferers because it may partially replace the need to draw blood via a finger prick or wear a monitor. The plan is reportedly for the tech to use lasers within the Apple Watch sensor array to monitor the presence fluids beneath the skin that can absorb glucose.

Now Mark Gurman of Bloomberg brings word of a potentially major development that could mean the project is progressing well. He claims a new leader of the project could suggest it’s moving to the next stage, where it could become part of the Apple Watch production. The new man is, according to Gurman, known within Apple as “someone who delivers.”

Gurman writes: “A potential breakthrough could come from Apple’s long-running noninvasive glucose monitoring project. First conceived during the Steve Jobs era, the effort aims to develop sensors capable of detecting elevated blood sugar levels without requiring finger pricks or blood draws.

“Recently, Apple shifted oversight of the project from platform architecture chief Tim Millet to Zongjian Chen, the senior engineering leader overseeing the Advanced Technologies Group and hardware like modems. Some view the transition as a sign the work may finally be progressing to a point where Chen, known as someone who delivers, can ramp up development of the technology into an eventual consumer-grade offering.”

Will it arrive in time for the Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 models potentially arriving later this year? The odds are against it. However, hopefully Apple is now making good progress to an innovation that could make life much easier for people who suffer from diabetes.