Apple Watch hypertension alerts cleared by FDA for new and old watches

Starting next week, Apple’s new hypertension notification feature will be coming to Watch Series 9 and later and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later with the launch of watchOS 26. That’s according to an emailed statement from Apple spokesperson Zaina Khachadourian saying the feature that monitors blood pressure has been cleared by the FDA.

Apple’s new hypertension notifications — announced Tuesday alongside the new Apple Watch SE3, Series 11, and Ultra 3 — use data from the watches’ existing optical heart sensor to “analyze how a user’s blood vessels respond to the beats of the heart.” An algorithm will review this data over a 30 day period and notify users if it detects signs of high blood pressure.