Apple Watch Series 10’s biggest health upgrade overcomes a major hurdle before release
Just days before its full release and hours before watchOS 11 rolls out to the public, Apple’s new sleep apnea detection feature for the Apple Watch has been cleared for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Apple unveiled its new Apple Watch Series 10 at its Glowtime iPhone 16 event last week, and one of the highlights of the new wearable is sleep apnea detection. The upgrade is actually a software-driven feature that’s also coming to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
Sleep apnea, which affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, is a condition in which breathing temporarily stops during sleep, depriving the body of oxygen. If left untreated, it can lead to serious health conditions, including type 2 diabetes. Apple has developed a new metric to help diagnose the condition, and now, the FDA is on board.
Apple Watch sleep apnea gets green light
Apple Watch’s sleep apnea detection is a new metric that uses accelerometer data to record small wrist movements caused by the breathing interruptions associated with sleep apnea. Apple Watch can deliver a report every 30 days, alerting users if they’re showing signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.
The same data can also measure how restful your sleep was overall, but sleep apnea detection is its main feature. The data can even be presented as a PDF that you can share with your healthcare provider so users can get the treatment they need. Reportedly, 80% of sleep apnea cases go undiagnosed, with most patients unaware that they have it. Short-term effects can include excessive daytime fatigue, difficulty concentrating, and increased irritability.
Sleep apnea was one of the notable health innovations Apple announced at its iPhone 16 event. It was unveiled alongside a new hearing aid feature for AirPods Pro that also recently cleared FDA review. AirPods Pro 2 are now authorized for use as a clinical-grade hearing aid, providing improved listening based on the results of a new iPhone-based hearing test.
Apple Watch Series 10 will be released on September 20, alongside the new iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro.