With the arrival of its new smartwatches, Apple announced a new feature called Hypertension Notifications that will warn users when there is an abrupt spike in their blood pressure levels. Interestingly, this feature won’t be exclusive to only the latest devices, such as the Apple Watch Series 11. Instead, it will also be available on a handful of older models, as well, save for the entry-level Apple Watch SE series.
When can you expect it to land?
The Hypertension Notifications system will be broadly available on a smartwatch model with an Apple S9 or S10 silicon, and running watchOS 26. The compatible model names are listed below:
- Apple Watch Series 11
- Apple Watch Series 10
- Apple Watch Series 9
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
- Apple Watch Ultra 3
It is worth keeping in mind that Hypertension Notifications has not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yet. Apple, however, notes that the clearance should go through in September. Once the agency gives its nod, it will be rolled out to users in over 150 countries.
The other core requirement is that a user must be older than 22 to use it. Moreover, it is not recommended for users who have previously been diagnosed with hypertension, or pregnant women.
What is a hypertension alert?
Apple says the new AI-powered wellness feature on the Apple Watch relies on the readings collected by the optical heart rate sensor (specifically, the flow of blood in the vessels) and works in the background after assessing data from the past 30 days. This feature has been clinically validated following a study with more than 2,000 participants.
Given the massive scale of people who live with hypertension-related conditions across the globe, Apple says “the feature is expected to notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension within the first year.” The company recommends that when users receive a notification, they should record their blood pressure level using a blood pressure cuff for the next seven days and report it to their doctor.
Do keep in mind that Apple will only provide a warning about a rise in the blood pressure levels, but won’t tell the exact diastolic and systolic values that you get from a medical-grade blood pressure sensing device. In case you’re curious, bood pressure sensing is also available on rival smartwatches offered by the likes of Samsung and Huawei.
