An upcoming Apple Watch reportedly will be able to let users know if they might have sleep apnea.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Apple is planning new health-related features, which include sleep apnea detection and blood pressure monitoring, for its 2024 watch.
The sleep apnea detection feature will be able to monitor users’ sleeping and breathing habits to determine whether they might have the disorder before recommending following up with a doctor, per Bloomberg’s report.
The sleep apnea detection feature would follow other sleep-related features Apple has introduced to its watches in recent years. In 2020, Apple’s sleep tracking software became a reality for Apple Watch users on its watchOS 7 operating system. The watchOS 9 operating system, released last year, expanded on that, offering new sleep insights including sleep staging.
Via the watchOS 9 update, the Apple Watch can estimate when users are in REM, core, or deep sleep and when they are awake using signals from the accelerometer and heart rate sensor. Users can see sleep stage data on the watch in the app and view more detailed information, like time asleep, alongside additional metrics like heart rate and respiratory rate, in sleep comparison charts in the health app on iPhone.
Apple did not respond to Sleep Review’s request for comment.
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