I’ve had high blood pressure for years. Or I used to before I got it under control. But I’ve wished for a blood pressure-aware smartwatch for years. Apple is finally adding it, to a degree, with the latest Apple Watch Series 11 announced at Apple’s latest iPhone event. It’ll also be available on the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and the feature should be coming to existing Apple Watches — the 9, 10 and Ultra 2.
Hypertension notifications are part of the latest Apple Watch’s feature set, and according to Apple it’ll be supported in 150 countries and regions this month. Apple says it expects clearances from the US Food and Drug Administration and other regional authorities “soon.”
These hypertension notifications aren’t the same as an actual blood pressure reading — something Samsung’s watches have done when calibrated with a blood pressure cuff first — but Apple says the watch will make you aware of moments that you may likely have high blood pressure. The notifications come after the watch analyzes 30-day periods of heart rate activity, similar to how possible sleep apnea notifications currently work.
When that possibly happens, it could be a moment to do a proper blood pressure check with a cuff to make sure you’re OK, or check with a doctor to see if there are any blood pressure concerns.
I was shocked to hear blood pressure news after waiting year after year for anything that could help me out. Maybe if you haven’t been following this space like I have you might be let down that it’s not a “true” blood pressure watch. But getting reliable blood pressure readings on a smartwatch isn’t easy at all. In fact, no watch out there is doing it in any sort of calibration-free way that could stand in for a standard cuff. Omron’s inflatable cuff watch I reviewed years ago was the closest I’ve seen. In fact, the last I checked, areas like the finger or ear were better spots to make a reliable blood pressure wearable.
But Apple starting with possible hypertension notifications is interesting. Since it’s not the same as a guaranteed blood pressure reading, it should be easier to get clearances. It also could be a test run for Apple to start collecting data on the way to developing some sort of true blood pressure accessory in the future — in the AirPods, perhaps, which just added heart rate in-ear.
It’s a fascinating feature to include, mainly because it’s so hard to do on-the-fly blood pressure checks. Would something like this possibly help catch problems you may not be aware of? I know my own blood pressure check-ins tend to be first thing in the morning (per my cardiologist’s recommendations). I certainly want to know more, though.
