ISLAMABAD: Apple Inc. will begin rolling out a new hypertension detection feature on its smartwatch next week after receiving clearance from the United States Food and Drug Administration on Thursday, Bloomberg News reported.
The feature, first announced at Apple’s Sept. 9 product event, will be available in 150 countries and regions, including the United States, Hong Kong and the European Union.
Apple said this feature uses data from the watch’s optical heart sensor to monitor how blood vessels respond to heartbeats over a 30-day period.
Although not designed to detect every case of high blood pressure, Apple said the tool could provide early warnings to about 1 million people worldwide, Reuters reported. The company emphasized that it is intended as a support tool rather than a replacement for medical diagnosis.
The hypertension monitoring feature will be supported on the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, Series 11, and the higher-end Ultra 2 and Ultra 3 models. Its rollout follows regulatory reviews in multiple markets, with U.S. approval seen as a milestone for Apple’s expanding health technology offerings.
The announcement comes as Apple pushes deeper into consumer health monitoring, adding to existing tools for heart rate, electrocardiogram tracking and blood oxygen measurement.
At the same September event, the company also introduced a slimmer iPhone Air as part of its refreshed smartphone lineup.
Apple and the FDA did not immediately respond to requests for comment, Reuters reported.
Industry analysts said the addition of hypertension detection could increase demand for the company’s smartwatch in an already competitive wearables market, where health-tracking capabilities are a key driver of sales.
