Apple has announced that its new hypertension detection feature, which had been an Apple Watch Ultra 3 and Apple Watch Series 11 exclusive, will also be available on older Apple Watch models.
The new feature, which is expected to receive FDA approval soon, will also be available on Apple Watch Series 9 and later, as well as Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later models, with watchOS 26 installed. Availability is expected to be in over 150 countries this month.
The feature can alert users if signs of chronic high blood pressure — or hypertension — are detected. Hypertension is the leading modifiable risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease, and impacts approximately 1.3 billion adults globally. It is frequently undiagnosed because it often has no symptoms, many people do not see a doctor regularly, and even during a clinical visit, it can be easily missed with a single measurement.
The Apple Watch hypertension detection feature uses the optical heart sensor to analyze blood vessel responses over 30-day periods, analyzing how a user’s blood vessels respond to the beats of the heart. The algorithm works passively in the background reviewing data over 30-day periods, and will notify users if it detects consistent signs of hypertension.
Users who receive notifications are advised to monitor their blood pressure for seven days using a third-party cuff and share results with healthcare providers, following American Heart Association guidelines.
Apple says the feature was developed with advanced machine learning and training data from multiple studies totaling over 100,000 participants. Its performance was then validated in a clinical study of over 2,000 participants. While hypertension notifications will not detect all instances of hypertension, with the reach of Apple Watch, the feature is expected to notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension within the first year.
watchOS 26 will be released to the public on September 15, while the new Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 will begin shipping September 19.
