ECG capabilities, available with the Apple Watch Series 4 and later, allow users to quickly take an ECG by simply placing their finger on the Digital Crown and staying still for 30 seconds. Before the feature launches in countries, Apple must retain regulatory approval from the country's respective and appropriate authorities. The feature first launched in the U.S. in 2018 with the Apple Watch Series 4, following FDA approval.
watchOS 8.3 and iOS 15.2 are currently available to developers and public beta testers and can be expected to be launched publicly in the near future. iOS 15.2 includes several new features, including a redesigned Notification Summary, the Apple Music Voice Plan, Legacy Contacts, and more.
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:14 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Last year, Apple launched CarPlay Ultra, the long-awaited next-generation version of its CarPlay software system for vehicles. Nearly a year later, CarPlay Ultra is still limited to Aston Martin's latest luxury vehicles, but that should change fairly soon.
In May 2025, Apple said many other vehicle brands planned to offer CarPlay Ultra, including Hyundai, Kia, and Genesis.
CarPlay Ultra...
As we wait for WWDC to kick off next Monday, Apple today announced the winners of its annual Apple Design Awards, recognizing apps and games for their innovation, ingenuity, and technical achievement.
The 2025 Apple Design Award winners are listed below, with one app and one game selected per category:
Delight and Fun - CapWords (App) and Balatro (Game)
Innovation - Play (App) and PBJ -...
Saturday April 11, 2026 9:07 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
While the AirPods Max 2 received more attention, Apple also released a second pair of headphones last month: Nike Powerbeats Pro 2.
Nike Powerbeats Pro 2 are the same as the regular Powerbeats Pro 2, except they have a two-tone design consisting of black and Nike's signature Volt neon green-yellow color. The headphones were released on March 20 in the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K., and a ...
Tuesday March 17, 2026 3:32 am PDT by Tim Hardwick
Apple today launched its atrial fibrillation history feature for Apple Watch in mainland China.
Since 2022, Apple Watch in the U.S. has supported AFib History, which allows users diagnosed with atrial fibrillation to view an estimate of how frequently their heart is in this type of irregular rhythm.
The feature analyzes pulse rate data collected by a photoplethysmography (PPG) sensor to...
Wednesday March 18, 2026 6:20 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple CEO Tim Cook is in China, where he attended one of the company's 50th anniversary events outside of its Taikoo Li retail store in Chengdu today. The event revolved around a performance by Chinese singer Li Yuchun, and it comes after Apple hosted a surprise Alicia Keys concert at its Grand Central store in New York last week.
According to the China Daily, Cook is scheduled to attend the ...
Apple saw a 23% year-over-year increase in iPhone sales in China during the first nine weeks of 2026, significantly outperforming a broader market decline driven by weak demand and rising component costs, according to Counterpoint Research.
China smartphone sales apparently fell by 4% year-over-year in the first nine weeks of 2026. Within this environment, Apple emerged as the...
One guess is it might be a medical device requirement.
To have it approved per-region, yes, but to do so in a software update? Why not have a server somewhere that answers "I'm in region x requests" with "OK, you're in"?
Strange that they're hardcoding these regions into the OS, rather than having a separate mechanism to decide who gets to use the feature. I guess it's not a huge deal, but rolling out an entire OS upgrade just to add
public bool IsEcgAvailable { switch (user.Region) { case China: // new in 8.3 return true; default: return false; } }
Strange that they're hardcoding these regions into the OS, rather than having a separate mechanism to decide who gets to use the feature. I guess it's not a huge deal, but rolling out an entire OS upgrade just to add
public bool IsEcgAvailable { switch (user.Region) { case China: // new in 8.3 return true; default: return false; } }
seems a bit much.
One guess is it might be a medical device requirement.
