Apple Watch Could Get Blood Pressure Monitoring in 2025

[MacRumors]

Apple is ramping up work on a blood pressure monitoring feature for the Apple Watch and it could be ready as soon as 2025, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Blood pressure monitoring is a health addition that Apple has been working on for the last several years, and based on rumors, Apple wanted to debut it in 2024.

The feature would not provide exact systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements, instead tracking whether a user's blood pressure is trending upwards and sending an alert if hypertension is detected. After receiving an alert, the Apple Watch user could provide the information to a medical professional for additional testing.

Hypertension is known as a silent killer because it can go undetected and undiagnosed, leading to heart damage and death. High blood pressure often has few symptoms until it is notably advanced, and early detection via the Apple Watch has the potential to save lives. The Apple Watch already has the ability to detect atrial fibrillation or an irregular heart beat, plus it can be used to take one-lead ECG readings. There is also a blood oxygen monitoring feature, but it is disabled in current models in the United States due to patent issues.

According to Gurman, Apple is aiming to introduce the feature in the Apple Watch Ultra 3, and it would also presumably be included in the standard Apple Watch coming in 2025 as well. It is not yet entirely clear if Apple will be able to launch the feature in 2025, given that it was previously delayed. In 2022, Apple was reportedly dealing with accuracy issues during testing, but those problems may have been solved.

Apple is also continuing to work on noninvasive blood glucose monitoring, but that feature is not yet ready to launch.

Article Link: Apple Watch Could Get Blood Pressure Monitoring in 2025

 

[darthbane2k]

Literally the same story reported last year.

 

[jz0309]

Apple needs to up the health sensors in the AW, so this will be a very welcomed addition

 

[WilliApple]

When will the apple watch have better battery life?
I am switching away from the Apple Watch because of battery life and the GPS.

 

[Jaro65]

This would most likely entice quite a lot of people to upgrade.

 

[Egk]

Still waiting for them to improve things so they handle tattoos better.

 

[anshuvorty]

This will get me to upgrade from my Series 6....lol...aside from the battery life issues, there is literally 0 reason to upgrade from it. The S7-S10 literally have no compelling features on them that convinced me to upgrade to them...

 

[hieranonymous]

2025 is shaping up to be a banner year for the Ultra.

 

[quietstormSD]

Well this isn't a "scoop", it's just a natural progression of the Ultra. Just look at the Galaxy watches for their inaccurate capabilities and predict that Apple will come out with the same capability that is more refined 2-3 years later.

They delayed the Ultra 3 release this year because I'm assuming stuff wasn't ready for some features. Keep in mind, Gurman predicted an Ultra 3 release all the way up to the night before announcement, which was also mentioned by others more in the know.

 

[kagharaht]

I would get this but not with the Ultra Watch. I'll wait for it to be available on the other models.

 

[brofkand]

Literally the same story reported last year.

How much do you want to bet the next Apple Watch is the Series 10 in new colors and renamed the Series 11 with no other changes?

 

[TechWhisperer]

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if Apple is intentionally rolling out half-baked, gimmicky technologies just to pressure people into upgrading.

 

[Earendil]

When will the apple watch have better battery life?

Every year it gets better.

I am switching away from the Apple Watch because of battery life and the GPS.

Cool.

This would most likely entice quite a lot of people to upgrade.

Unfortunately, from the description this won’t be great at actively monitoring BP for a known issue, just letting you know when it’s trending up so an unknown issue is found. As a feature, its value is probably in people not knowing it exists until the day it tells them to go see a doctor, they do, and they live another 20 years because of it.
And yeah, high blood pressure is the silent killer, as the symptoms don’t show until your arteries are royally @#$& and there is no going back.

Still waiting for them to improve things so they handle tattoos better.

You have a tattoo where a watch would go? I’m all for tattoos, but you don’t embed ink sub-dermal and expect sensors based on light to penetrate the skin, especially ones based on light refraction at specific frequencies
Perhaps they’ll come up with an entirely new mechanism though, someday.

 

[brofkand]

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if Apple is intentionally rolling out half-baked, gimmicky technologies just to pressure people into upgrading.

It's never been more important to not wait for the reviews - but wait for the actual real-world experiences about a week or two after the reviews. The reviewers are all bought and paid for.

 

[Earendil]

Sometimes I can’t help but wonder if Apple is intentionally rolling out half-baked, gimmicky technologies just to pressure people into upgrading.

Tell me that’s a pun and not you downplaying physical health…

Why do you think blood pressure monitoring is a “gimmick”?
While I’m here, why do you think ”gimmicks” will “pressure” people into buying?

 

[pdaholic]

Meh, an electronic bp cuff is cheaper and will provide “exact measurements.” Same as with the banned pulse ox everyone is pining over, an inexpensive finger probe will give accurate and faster assessments. But yeah, the watch is always on my arm and can look for “trends,” so I guess that’s a plus.

I just hope the ultra 3 is more compact. I’m regretting the ultra 2 because of all the jiggling while I’m running.

 

[alexandr]

And if they get oxygen level back — man is I am going to update my S6!

 

[MacGizmo]

This is an almost useless feature, in my opinion.

If you have high blood pressure, you can't get the measurements so you still need to check it in another way – and you don't need your watch to remind you that you *may* be suffering from hypertension.

If you don't have high blood pressure that you're aware of, you're probably going to ignore the notification the same way you ignore every other health warning ever presented to you by any other device, parent, or doctor. Of course, you MAY have high blood pressure, just like you MAY be going blind, have brain cancer, or unknowingly be carrying the cure for the zombie virus that will eventually get us all.

I know it's not entirely Apple's fault... they have to play in the FDA's sandbox and adhere to their rules about offering a medical-grade BP device. What gets me is that so many app developers and other hardware manufacturers manage to offer (what they claim) are accurate readings; and we all know darn well they don't have FDA approval, but they get away with it anyway.

I applaud Apple for wanting to make the BP feature as accurate as possible and not settling for "good enough." But I don't see how this is terribly helpful to anyone.

 

[maxfromdenmark]

Literally the same story reported last year.

Yeah. Fool me once shame on me, fool me twice….

 

[NightfallOrchid]

When will the apple watch have better battery life?
I am switching away from the Apple Watch because of battery life and the GPS.

I think the battery life of the Ultra is fine and much better than the regular Watch

 

[dampfnudel]

That may be a good reason for some to upgrade their S5-S9 (I have an S7). I just wish they could legally reactivate the O2 sensor.

 

[CmdrLaForge]

Cool feature to add. I also hope for glucose levels

 

[Student of Life]

If they can get it to work, its a must buy feature.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

This will get me to upgrade from my Series 6....

This will get me to upgrade from my Series 10...

Now where is that "Take my Money" meme?

 

[Earendil]

If you have high blood pressure, you can't get the measurements so you still need to check it in another way –

Correct, and cuffs are inexpensive and accurate, if not also bulky. But if you have hypertension then this is the way to go as of today.

and you don't need your watch to remind you that you *may* be suffering from hypertension.

Is there another more accurate and convenient way to know? People probably trust their watch over their mother’s doting, and this would prompt people to go see a doctor for if they aren’t already getting regular checkups.

If you don't have high blood pressure that you're aware of, you're probably going to ignore the notification the same way you ignore every other health warning ever presented to you by any other device, parent, or doctor.

I suppose I already tackled this, but the idea would be to get people into see a doctor. Parents don’t know anything

Of course, you MAY have high blood pressure, just like you MAY be going blind, have brain cancer, or unknowingly be carrying the cure for the zombie virus that will eventually get us all.

I realize you’re intentionally being hyperbolic, but hypertension is more common, kills more, and is more preventable (if caught early) than all those things combined. This would be more akin to morbid obesity being invisible.

I know it's not entirely Apple's fault... they have to play in the FDA's sandbox and adhere to their rules about offering a medical-grade BP device. What gets me is that so many app developers and other hardware manufacturers manage to offer (what they claim) are accurate readings; and we all know darn well they don't have FDA approval, but they get away with it anyway.

I applaud Apple for wanting to make the BP feature as accurate as possible and not settling for "good enough." But I don't see how this is terribly helpful to anyone.

It’s more likely to be helpful once it’s prolific. I didn’t buy my S6 so that it could nag me about the volume in my environment, but now that it does it has changed my behavior and made me more aware. I don’t always act on the info, but at least I’m now armed with the info. Knowledge and awareness are steps 1 and 2, after all.