Apple on Monday not only unveiled the new iPhone 16 lineup, they also debuted their new Apple Watch Series 10 smartwatch. The Cupertino firm also unveiled the Watch’s sleep apnea detection features. How does sleep apnea detection work, and which Apple Watch models can access the feature?
Apple Watch Sleep Apnea Detection
Apple Watch sleep apnea uses a new Breathing Disturbances metric, that uses the accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep. Every 30 days, Apple Watch will analyze breathing disturbance data and notify users if it shows consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea so they can speak to their doctor about next steps, including potential diagnosis and treatment.
Breathing Disturbances can be used to determine restfulness of sleep. Breathing Disturbances can be influenced by alcohol, medications, sleep position, and more. Users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app, where they are classified as elevated or not elevated, and can be viewed over a one-month, six-month, or one-year period.
Users can also export a PDF that shows when sleep apnea may have occurred, three months of breathing disturbance data, and additional information. This makes it easy to share the information with healthcare providers. The Health app also offers educational articles to provide more information about sleep apnea.
Apple developed the sleep apnea notification algorithm by using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests. The feature was then confirmed by a clinical study, in which every participant identified by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnea.
Apple Watch sleep apnea notifications are expected to receive marketing authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other global health authorities soon, with availability this month in more than 150 countries and regions, including the U.S., the EU, and Japan.
The sleep apnea notification feature will be supported on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.
