Sleep Apnoea Tool Arrives On Apple Watch, Hearing Health On AirPods Pro 2

The new iPhone maker has added groundbreaking health features to its newly launched Apple Watch which will deliver sleep apnoea notifications, while its AirPods Pro 2 will feature the world’s first all-in-one hearing health experience.

Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods Pro 2 were launched globally at Apple’s “Its Glowtime” event on Monday at Apple Park, California.

“With Apple Watch, we continue to offer our users the ability to uncover important health conditions with new sleep apnoea notifications. And on AirPods Pro, powerful features put users’ hearing health front and centre, bringing new ways to help test for and receive assistance for hearing loss,” said Sumbul Desai, MD, Apple’s vice president of Health, in a statement.

The sleep apnoea detection feature is a first for the Apple Watch, beginning with the Series 10 model. It will be supported on Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.

The Cupertino-based company said the new sleep notification algorithm was developed using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnoea tests. The innovative breathing disturbances metric will track users’ sleep, analyse sleep patterns and notify them in the event of an apnoea — a serious sleep disorder where breathing repeatedly stops and starts.

The breathing disturbances metric uses the accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep, and then notify users if it shows consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnoea.

Apple noted that the sleep apnoea feature will roll out in 150 countries once it receives approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the next few months. Other standard health features like the Afib alerts, cardio fitness, and the ECG app, from the previous Apple Watch models are also present in the latest model.

The newly launched smartwatch is slimmer than its predecessor and features a larger display.

Further, Apple’s AirPods Pro comes with active Loud Sound Reduction — a clinically validated hearing test feature — and an over-the-counter hearing aid feature.

The first-of-its-kind software-based hearing aid feature helps make access to hearing assistance easier than ever at an approachable price point. The hearing test and hearing aid features are expected to receive marketing authorisation from global health authorities soon and will be available this year in more than 100 countries and regions.

Since launching the Health app in 2014, Apple has introduced meaningful features that focus on 18 areas of health and fitness across Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone, and iPad.