(Credit: Eric Zeman/PCMag)
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The Apple Watch's new hypertension notifications feature has received FDA approval, just days after it was announced at Apple's annual fall event.
As 9to5Mac reports, hypertension alerts will become available in over 150 countries and regions, including the US and the EU, next week. It will be supported on Apple Watch Series 9 or later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later running watchOS 26. The software update begins rolling out Sept. 15.
Once available, the feature will use the optical heart rate sensor at the back of the Apple Watch to measure how blood vessels respond to heartbeats. "The algorithm works passively in the background reviewing data over 30-day periods, and will notify users if it detects consistent signs of hypertension," Apple says.
Apple, in line with the latest American Heart Association guidelines, then recommends logging your blood pressure for seven days using a third-party blood pressure cuff and sharing the data with your healthcare provider for further advice.
(Credit: Apple)In developing hypertension notifications, Apple used advanced machine learning and training data from across multiple studies. It was tested in a clinical trial with over 2,000 participants and introduced alongside the Apple Watch Series 11 earlier this week.
The new feature "won't detect all instances of hypertension" but is expected "to notify over one million people with undiagnosed hypertension in the first year alone, empowering them to make lifesaving behavioral changes or start treatment," Apple said during its keynote.
Apple's other major announcement for the new Apple Watches was Sleep Score. It detects how well you slept overnight and provides a score out of 100. Like hypertension alerts, this feature will also be available on older smartwatches (Apple Watch Series 6 or later, Apple Watch SE 2, and the two Apple Watch Ultras), but it will require an iPhone 11 or later running iOS 26.