Hypertension detection, a headlining feature of Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, is coming to some previous models, so there's no need to rush out and upgrade just yet.
Apple Watch is a mature product line packed with sensors, and there's not much room for anything new, hardware-wise. However, Apple can introduce new features thanks to improvements in chipset processing and data correlation.
One of the biggest breakthroughs for the 2025 Apple Watch models is the ability to alert users of potential hypertension — a high blood pressure condition. It is possible with the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3, but it is coming to other models as well.
The Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and Apple Watch Ultra 3 all gain this feature.
However, hypertension detection hasn't yet been approved by the FDA. It likely won't be released until later in September or October
The Apple Watch SE 3 doesn't have a new enough chipset or good enough sensors for the feature. Though, it does gain the new Sleep Score feature along with any other Apple Watch that has sleep tracking.
The new Apple Watch models ship on September 19. watchOS 26 will release on September 15 and bring many new features to all Apple Watch models that can run it.
