Apple Watch ECG Coming to South Korea With Imminent iOS 14.2 and watchOS 7.1 Updates [Update: Russia Also]

Apple today announced [Google Translate] that electrocardiogram (ECG) and irregular heart rhythm notification features will be coming to the Apple Watch in South Korea as part of the upcoming iOS 14.2 and watchOS 7.1 releases.

apple watch ecg
While Apple hasn't confirmed a release date for the updates, it appears to be imminent based on today's press release and the fact that a "Release Candidate" version of iOS 14.2 was pushed out to developer and public beta testers on Friday.

Word surfaced back in August that the ECG feature had received approval in South Korea, but it's taken a few additional months for Apple to prepare for its public release.

The ECG feature, which is now available in nearly 50 countries for Apple Watch Series 4, 5, and 6, allows users to directly measure electrical heart activity by simply placing their finger on the Digital Crown for 30 seconds. The irregular heart rhythm feature intermittently measures the user's heart rate in the background and sends a notification if it detects an anomaly it categorizes as atrial fibrillation, which can be a serious heart arrhythmia condition.

Both features are considered medical diagnostics, and so they require approval from regulators in each country where they are to be made available, a requirement that has slowed the rollout of the features.

Apple's new blood oxygen monitoring feature on the Apple Watch Series 6, in contrast, is considered a wellness feature rather than a medical diagnostic, and thus is not subject to significant regulatory scrutiny, which enabled Apple to offer it in more than 100 countries at launch.

Update:The ECG app for Apple Watch Series 4 and later will also be available in Russia with the release of iOS 14.2 and watchOS 7.1, reports Meduza.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch 11, watchOS 26
Tag: ECG
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
Related Forum: Apple Watch

Popular Stories

Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone to Debut These Three Breakthrough Features

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:09 am PST by
Apple's first foldable iPhone is expected to launch alongside the iPhone 18 Pro models in fall 2026, and it's shaping up to include three standout features that could set it apart from the competition. The book-style foldable will reportedly feature an industry-first 24-megapixel under-display camera built into the inner display, according to a recent JP Morgan equity research report. That...
streaming black friday 2025

Black Friday Streaming Deals Include Big Savings on Disney+, Hulu, Apple TV, and More

Monday November 24, 2025 8:03 am PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a...
apple store down feature

Here's Why the Apple Store is Going Down

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:01 pm PST by
Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis right now, but do not get your hopes up for new products. Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. The store already went down and came back online in Australia and New Zealand, ...
iPhone Pocket Short

iPhone Pocket is Now Completely Sold Out Worldwide

Tuesday November 25, 2025 7:16 am PST by
Apple recently teamed up with Japanese fashion brand ISSEY MIYAKE to create the iPhone Pocket, a limited-edition knitted accessory designed to carry an iPhone. However, it is now completely sold out in all countries where it was released. iPhone Pocket became available to order on Apple's online store starting Friday, November 14, in the United States, France, China, Italy, Japan, Singapore, ...
General Apps Messages Redux

Singapore Orders Changes to iMessage by December

Tuesday November 25, 2025 6:39 am PST by
Singapore has ordered Apple to block or filter messages on iMessage that impersonate government agencies, requiring the company to implement new anti-spoofing protections by December as part of efforts to curb rising online scams, the Straits Times reports. Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said that it had issued an Implementation Directive to Apple under the Online Criminal Harms...
streaming black friday 2025

Best Black Friday Streaming Deals - Save Big on Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 1:14 pm PST by
We've been focusing on deals on physical products over the past few weeks, but Black Friday is also a great time of year to purchase a streaming membership. Some of the biggest services have great discounts for new and select returning members this week, including Apple TV, Disney+, Hulu, Paramount+, Peacock, and more. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red

Apple Black Friday Deals Available Now on AirPods, iPads, Accessories, and More

Friday November 21, 2025 8:48 am PST by
We're only a few days away from Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When...
General Black Friday Deals 25 Red Green

The 30+ Best Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, iPads, MacBooks, and More

Thursday November 27, 2025 6:46 am PST by
Black Friday is finally here, and as always this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small...

Top Rated Comments

matrix07 Avatar
66 months ago
In before the onslaughts of Australians complaints. ?
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BootLoxes Avatar
66 months ago
Now just bring it to Japan
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
whatgift Avatar
66 months ago

It’s TGA afaik, and they’re finally implementing new regulations on 25 February 2021 according to their website.

https://www.tga.gov.au/therapeutic-goods-legislation-amendment-2019-measures-no1-regulations-2019
My understanding is that Apples method of getting ECG is not possible with the current Australian regulations, hence why Apple never applied for its registration as a medical device.

Hopefully these new measures can be sorted and us Australians can go back to complaining about all the things that that injure and kills us here (thankful that Magpie season is nearly over!).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zanswer Avatar
66 months ago

Next it will be coming to kazicstan (or however it’s spelt) before coming to Australia.
Don't worry too much, You'll have a time to learn how to spell Kazakhstan properly, before Apple add ECG support for Australia. :)))
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wesley96 Avatar
66 months ago

Pretty sad they Apple peddled this as a feature at a keynote [The feature!] and was clearly not available for the majority even now. "2 years later"
I don't think this is necessarily Apple's fault, though. Many countries have/had regulations on medical devices that did not take these sort of devices into account when they were enacted and these take time to change.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
insomniac86 Avatar
66 months ago

I’d already had a look and it seems there are three requirements to enable ECG.
[LIST=1]
* Linked iPhone is set to supported region
* Watch / phone polls nearest cell tower to geo check it’s in a supported area
* The watch was manufactured for a supported area

If I”ve understood correctly, it’s possible to hack round the first two constraints, but the watch itself still needs to come from a supported country / region. Even hacking an Aus watch would still fail as the watch region code reports it coming from an unsupported area.

There are a few hoops to jump through, but I’d like to have the ecg for health reasons. Also I’m not overly keen on paying for the included ecg hardware, in the Aus watch, when I don’t get the functionality.

https://reincubate.com/support/how-to/unlock-apple-watch-ecg/
[HEADING=3]As of iOS 13.5.1 (& 14) the region check is no longer made ?[/HEADING]
iOS 13.5.1 introduced an issue in iOS whereby the Watch purchase region check is no longer applied. As such, it's possible to unlock ECG on Watches paired with iOS devices running this version of iOS or above. This remains true of iOS 14.

We're expecting to update this in the near future, along with tips for enabling blood oxygen monitoring. In the meantime, please let us know any tricks or techniques you find — we'll share free licenses of our products for any good tips sent our way.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)