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Apple released watchOS 11 today following months of beta testing. A key new health-related feature included in the software update is sleep apnea detection, which is available starting today on the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in more than 150 countries and regions, according to Apple.

sleep-apnea-detection-apple-watch.jpg

The list of countries includes the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, and many others, with a full list available on Apple's website. A few English-speaking countries where the feature is not yet available are Australia and Canada, as Apple is still seeking regulatory clearance for the feature in some regions.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts while they sleep. The detection feature uses the Apple Watch's accelerometer to "monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns," according to Apple. If these disturbances occur frequently over multiple nights, they may be associated with sleep apnea, according to Apple.

Apple Watch users can view their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app on the iPhone, with disturbances classified as "elevated" or "not elevated."

Apple says the feature was developed using "advanced machine learning" and an "extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests," and then validated in a "clinical study." Apple's fine print says the feature is intended to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea for people 18 years old or older who have not already been diagnosed with sleep apnea.

Apple recently received FDA clearance for the feature in the U.S., and the company shared a document describing the development and validation of the feature.

The new Apple Watch Series 10 launches on Friday, while the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 were released last year.

Article Link: Apple Watch's Sleep Apnea Detection Feature Now Available in More Than 150 Countries
 
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Note - it doesn't seem to work with iOS Beta 18.1 Beta 3. It won't sync with the RC again until probably next week. (as 18.1 B3 was released for the iPhone 16 models in prep for Friday)
 
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I’m having trouble activating the feature. I have watchOS 11 and iOS 18.1 beta 3, but I can’t seem to find it.
 
I’m having trouble activating the feature. I have watchOS 11 and iOS 18.1 beta 3, but I can’t seem to find it.
It doesn't seem to work with iOS Beta 18.1 Beta 3. That beta won't sync with the RC again (which is a newer build) until probably next week. (as 18.1 B3 was released for the iPhone 16 models in prep for Friday)
 
I just enabled the sleep apnea feature. Here is what Apple did not say about it. Its intended use is to detect it IF you have not been diagnosed. If you do have it, which I do and on a cpap machine. It gives the warning I just mentioned and discourages enabling the feature. I still enabled it though. 🤷‍♂️
 
WOW ! Canada is not there... I just can't believe it. What a letdown...

I was kind of upgrading from my Series 6 for that. I might return it or cancel my order.

I hope they really submitted it to Health Canada. How can we know for sure?
 
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WOW ! Canada is not there... I just can't believe it. What a letdown...

I was kind of upgrading from my Series 6 for that. I might return it or cancel my order.

I hope they really submitted it to Health Canada. How can we know for sure?
I have series 10 preordered. Just saw Canada is not on the list. I'm going to cancel my order right now.
 
This is a potentially life saving or life altering feature! My aunt had a stroke because she had sleep apnea and didn’t know it until it was too late. She’s had to walk with a cane ever since.

I have very bad sleep apnea and my wife, who is a RN, could tell I wasn’t just snoring one night but that my breathing was pausing / stopping and she convinced me to have a sleep study as soon as I could.

My dad snored when he slept on his back and so did I so I’d normally sleep on my side so I wouldn’t. If you have bad sleep apnea sleeping on your side might help you stop snoring but it doesn’t prevent your breathing from stopping. I never considered that I might actually have sleep apnea instead of just bad genes when it came to snoring while I slept on my back.

This could potentially really help somebody like me who knew they snored but had no clue they weren’t breathing right while sleeping. It might save your life or prevent a less serious stroke that still effects your quality of like happened to my aunt.

Well done Apple. Now either replace the blood oxygen sensor or pay Masimo the licensing fee. I love the look of the 10 and the larger display and would upgrade from my 7 tomorrow but not if it doesn’t have blood oxygen monitoring. If my CPAP machine is malfunctioning or develops a small tear in the line of mask that you can’t hear that blood oxygen monitor will show it. For somebody who already knows they have sleep apnea it’s an important sensor that I don’t want to pay money to lose.
 
I'm glad to see Singapore on the list. I will go to Taiwan from Australia in Nov and transfer in Singapore. These three Apple websites do not mention sleep apnea detection at all. I thought I couldn't use this feature for a long time.
 
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