Apple Watch's Sleep Apnea Detection Feature Now Available in More Than 150 Countries

Apple released watchOS 11 today following months of beta testing. A key new health-related feature included in the software update is sleep apnea detection, which is available starting today on the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in more than 150 countries and regions, according to Apple.

sleep apnea detection apple watch
The list of countries includes the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and many others, with a full list available on Apple's website. A few English-speaking countries where the feature is not yet available are Australia and Canada, as Apple is still seeking regulatory clearance for the feature in some regions.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts while they sleep. The detection feature uses the Apple Watch's accelerometer to "monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns," according to Apple. If these disturbances occur frequently over multiple nights, they may be associated with sleep apnea, according to Apple.

Apple Watch users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app on the iPhone, with disturbances classified as "elevated" or "not elevated."

Apple says the feature was developed using "advanced machine learning" and an "extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests," and then validated in a "clinical study." Apple's fine print says the feature is intended to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea for people 18 years old or older who have not already been diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Apple recently received FDA clearance for the feature in the U.S., and the company shared a document describing the development and validation of the feature.

The new Apple Watch Series 10 launches on Friday, while the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 were released last year.

Related Forum: Apple Watch

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Top Rated Comments

callison Avatar
14 months ago
As someone diagnosed with sleep apnea, I will be very interested to compare the findings to my Resmed myAir data.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cybercommand Avatar
14 months ago
This can work on the other watches, but no, they want money.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
btrach144 Avatar
14 months ago

This can work on the other watches, but no, they want money.
I mean they also made it work for the series 9. So it’s not exclusive to the Series 10.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
FattiesGoneWild Avatar
14 months ago
I just enabled the sleep apnea feature. Here is what Apple did not say about it. Its intended use is to detect it IF you have not been diagnosed. If you do have it, which I do and on a cpap machine. It gives the warning I just mentioned and discourages enabling the feature. I still enabled it though. ?‍♂️
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
IAmStumped Avatar
14 months ago

As someone diagnosed with sleep apnea, I will be very interested to compare the findings to my Resmed myAir data.
Same. Hopefully they bring it to Canada soon...
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jz0309 Avatar
14 months ago
my main reason to upgrade to watchOS 11!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)