Overview
- EU Digital Markets Act filings show Apple bought certain Sonera assets through a subsidiary and extended employment offers to some staff in a transaction recorded in May 2026.
- Sonera developed a chip-based magnetic sensor that reads magnetic fields created by neural and muscle electrical currents, allowing non-contact measurement unlike traditional electrodes.
- The company marketed an S1 chip aimed first at muscle sensing for gesture control, prosthetics control, and continuous neuromuscular monitoring, with future aims toward brain-activity sensing.
- News outlets say the technology could be integrated into Apple Watch and other wearables to enable new health monitoring and accessibility features, though Apple has not publicly confirmed plans.
- Sonera was founded in 2018 by two UC Berkeley graduates, raised seed funding in 2023, and its website has been taken offline after the EU filing revealed the acquisition.