2024 Apple Watch Series 10: Sleep apnea & blood pressure

A rumor claims that the a 2024 Apple Watch Series 10 will include a refreshed design, with new health features expected to include detection of hypertension and sleep apnea.

The 2023 releases of Apple Watch didn't bring much new to the table in terms of design and specifications. For 2024, which should be the "Series 10" generation of the device, Apple is expected to offer something a bit different.

Doubling down on some earlier claims about the milestone release, Mark Gurman wrote in Sunday's "Power On" newsletter for Bloomberg that Apple's 2024 plans for the range will include at least one model with a new look.

Along with a visual upgrade, Apple is also tipped to be working on two new health-related features for the celebrated wearable. Gurman writes that the new features could include sleep apnea detection as well as hypertension via blood pressure monitoring.

In both instances, they should function with alerts to users advising to seek out follow-up testing if either is detected.

Gurman adds that the existing Apple Watch range probably won't make a big splash in sales for the holidays, due to a "lack of compelling features" and minimal major changes for the 2023 releases. Medical features, such as those anticipated for a 2024 release, have "real marketing power."

The features will be of benefit to users, but won't necessarily be a fully fleshed out blood pressure monitoring system despite years of rumors that it was in development.

In November, it was reported that Apple was fearful of harming its image, so initial iterations of blood pressure monitoring will apparently offer advice of an upward trend and to see a doctor to avoid a misdiagnosis.

Future versions may provide more precise readings.

4 Comments

eriamjh 1771 comments · 17 Years

About 1 year ago

I'd love to know how Apple is going to measure blood pressure from a watch. No, I'm not going to do any googling on this topic.

multimedia 1031 comments · 23 Years

I already have a $20 Chinese knock off I found on Amazon that I wear on my right wrist (opposite my WATCH Series 6 on my left wrist) that does blood pressure. Nobody notices I’m wearing two smartwatches. 129/76. Battery lasts a week.

dymmas 37 comments · 8 Years

Apple’s approach is really interesting.

I measure my BP once a day. If I get an average higher than normal reading, I tend to focus on physiological approaches to mitigating it (losing weight, reducing alcohol and sodium consumption, exercising etc).

What this approach does not tell me is hypertensive episodes during the day. This is where Apple’s approach - focusing on trends - could be very powerful.

I take a BP measurement at the same point in time every day, which tells me what my blood pressure is at that point in time in the day. Trends over time are simply what the reading is at that point in time in the day (first thing in the morning before coffee - a point in time when I am very relaxed). It doesn’t tell me over the course of the day when I might be experiencing hypertension.

Constant measurement, as Apple’s approach, can tell you in what situations and circumstances in the day you might experience hypertension. You can then bring in methods in those situations to reduce the hypertension (such as breathing, hydrating, guided relaxation etc).

Although it may not give you a precisely accurate reading, it doesn’t really matter when trends are the focus.

avon b7 8046 comments · 20 Years

dymmas said:

Apple’s approach is really interesting.

I measure my BP once a day. If I get an average higher than normal reading, I tend to focus on physiological approaches to mitigating it (losing weight, reducing alcohol and sodium consumption, exercising etc).

What this approach does not tell me is hypertensive episodes during the day. This is where Apple’s approach - focusing on trends - could be very powerful.

I take a BP measurement at the same point in time every day, which tells me what my blood pressure is at that point in time in the day. Trends over time are simply what the reading is at that point in time in the day (first thing in the morning before coffee - a point in time when I am very relaxed). It doesn’t tell me over the course of the day when I might be experiencing hypertension.

Constant measurement, as Apple’s approach, can tell you in what situations and circumstances in the day you might experience hypertension. You can then bring in methods in those situations to reduce the hypertension (such as breathing, hydrating, guided relaxation etc).

Although it may not give you a precisely accurate reading, it doesn’t really matter when trends are the focus.

I follow the same logic as you when it comes to health monitoring.

If the device isn't medically approved but is calbrated for its task (not just spewing out pie in the sky) then trends are what count, along with patterns (for which AI can be great for delving into).

They are good alarm bells to nudge you to seeing a doctor.

Obviously the less invasive the better and ideally collating data from various sensors at the same time.

I'm convinced that breath analysis is going to be one of the big jumps in overall health monitoring.

For blood pressure monitoring there are a few variants on the market. Moving away from the classic arm cuff, there is an option to place the cuff into the strap of a watch but that requires placing a pump into the watch itself, adding a bit of bulk.

https://www.techradar.com/reviews/huawei-watch-d

The advantage of that is that it's far more likely you won't skip a reading and it great for readings while you are asleep.

It will all boil down to the user's use case and need for accuracy but having options is great.