New Apple Watch has sleep apnea feature

CUPERTINO, Calif. – Apple on Sept. 9 unveiled Apple Watch Series 10, which among other things, features a new sleep apnea feature. 

Building on the intelligent health features already available to track key overnight metrics such as heart rate, respiratory rate and wrist temperature, the watch’s new sleep apnea feature can help identify signs of sleep apnea, the company says, by using the accelerometer to monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns. 

“The sleep apnea notification algorithm was developed using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests,” the company stated in a press release. “The feature was then validated in a clinical study — unprecedented in size for sleep apnea technology. In the clinical validation study, every participant identified by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnea.” 

The company says a new Apple Watch metric, called Breathing Disturbances, can be used to help understand restfulness of sleep and, when occurring frequently over multiple nights, may be associated with sleep apnea. Users can view their Breathing Disturbances in the Health app, where they are classified as elevated or not elevated, and can viewed over a one-month, six-month or one-year period. 

Apple expects the feature to receive marketing authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other global health authorities soon. The company says the sleep apnea feature will be available in more than 150 countries and regions this month, including the U.S., EU and Japan.