Apple Watch's Sleep Apnea Feature Continues to Roll Out Around World

[MacRumors]

Apple this month received approval to launch the Apple Watch's sleep apnea notifications feature in Malaysia, as noted by local resident Xavier Naxa. It is unclear when the feature will actually become available in the country.

This development comes less than a month after the feature became available in Brazil, as part of Apple's efforts to roll it out globally. As of September, the notifications were already available in more than 150 countries and territories.

Sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts while they sleep. The built-in accelerometer on the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 running watchOS 11 can "monitor small movements at the wrist" that may be associated with breathing disturbances, and notify you if you show consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.

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. It is designed for use by adults without a prior sleep apnea diagnosis.

A log of nightly breathing disturbances can be viewed in the Health app on the iPhone, with each disturbance classified as "elevated" or "not elevated."

Article Link: Apple Watch's Sleep Apnea Feature Continues to Roll Out Around World

 

[firstcitazen]

EU fines in 3, 2, 1.....

 

[ericg301]

I was recently diagnosed with apnea via an at-home sleep study and yet my Apple Watch has to detect any disturbances. So clearly, it's not perfect.

 

[Ash Pole]

Still waiting for the Oxygen sensor to be re-enabled. Im not buy another watch till they do.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I was recently diagnosed with apnea via an at-home sleep study and yet my Apple Watch has to detect any disturbances. So clearly, it's not perfect.

Were you diagnosed with moderate or severe sleep apnea? If not it’s probably why you didn’t get the sleep disturbances. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, and am struggling with using my CPAP machine, and on the days I haven’t used my machine (which has been days at a time) I haven’t received any elevated breathing disturbances). My numbers are lower on the nights I do use my CPAP machine.

 

[Ash Pole]

Anybody that snores has Apnea to some degree.

 

[HJM.NL]

Is this detection only for the Applewatch 10 or does this also work on earlier versions? Hope applewatch 11 will have at least a 24 hour battery capacity.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Still waiting for the Oxygen sensor to be re-enabled. Im not buy another watch till they do.

I don’t know if you wanted a S9, but Costco has stock of this model with blood oxygen sensor still enabled. I know it’ll work, because I purchased old stock of the U2 in November 2024, and I haven’t had any issues with the sensor.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Is this detection only for the Applewatch 10 or does this also work on earlier versions? Hope applewatch 11 will have at least a 24 hour battery capacity.

The S9 and Ultra 2 also work with it.

 

[HJM.NL]

I’ve an older applewatch already and was curious if this detection was also working with it (it’s a software related detection)

 

[jouster]

Were you diagnosed with moderate or severe sleep apnea? If not it’s probably why you didn’t get the sleep disturbances. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, and am struggling with using my CPAP machine, and on the days I haven’t used my machine (which has been days at a time) I haven’t received any elevated breathing disturbances). My numbers are lower on the nights I do use my CPAP machine.

Hang in there with the CPAP machine. I didn’t like mine at first; I doubt anyone does. But the health benefits are enormous. It’s worth it.

I barely notice it now.

 

[ericg301]

Were you diagnosed with moderate or severe sleep apnea? If not it’s probably why you didn’t get the sleep disturbances. I was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, and am struggling with using my CPAP machine, and on the days I haven’t used my machine (which has been days at a time) I haven’t received any elevated breathing disturbances). My numbers are lower on the nights I do use my CPAP machine.

Mild. And it's technically obstructive sleep apnea. My oxygen levels drop but I don't stop breathing. I was fitted for an oral appliance that's supposed to open up my airway vs a CPAP.

 

[FredTX92]

Sleep tracking is next to pointless, but this is good.

 

[d-klumpp]

I never leave my home or even my bedroom without a watch — preferably mechanical, but AWU2 will suffice. But nothing hinders restful sleep for me more than wearing a watch to bed.

 

[Fll01]

Not good to wait 4 weeks for the analysis.
“You must wear your Apple Watch to sleep for a minimum of 10 nights over a 30 day period”

Yeah guess if the oxygen sensor would have been additionally used, a detection would have probably been more accurate and faster…

 

[Fll01]

Still waiting for the Oxygen sensor to be re-enabled. Im not buy another watch till they do.

Exactly. The current state is absurd for a billion dollar company. And fans are still like “yeah it is still great, please remove further features”

 

[Digitalweddings]

it takes 30 days to tell you that you might have a sleep apnea problem…Lol. Damn I miss Steve Jobs.

 

[gsmornot]

I dont want it but I probably have it a bit myself. I have the first Ultra and watch the sleep numbers. It will show breaths per minute and O2 and things but I dont know that I want to know I have sleep apnea. I guess I should want to know but I dont want a machine to wear at night.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Hang in there with the CPAP machine. I didn’t like mine at first; I doubt anyone does. But the health benefits are enormous. It’s worth it.

I barely notice it now.

I was doing really well the first year. Once December rolled around my mental health tanked and I started struggling with my CPAP. I’m trying harder now to start using it again. I’m scared of the consequences of not using it, so I’m making an effort to using it every night again.

 

[Momof2.1107]

Mild. And it's technically obstructive sleep apnea. My oxygen levels drop but I don't stop breathing. I was fitted for an oral appliance that's supposed to open up my airway vs a CPAP.

My oxygen drops and I stop breathing in my sleep. I upload my data from my CPAP to an app called SleepHQ, to get an morning depth data from my machine.

 

[I7guy]

I know I snore so i enabled sleep apnea detection. We’ll see.

 

[Johnny907]

That’s nice, but I’m not upgrading from my 8 until they figure out the BloodOx sensor debacle.
Either pay up or find a workaround, Apple.

 

[3xBoom]

I was recently diagnosed with apnea via an at-home sleep study and yet my Apple Watch has to detect any disturbances. So clearly, it's not perfect.

"you are not snoring right..." SJ

 

[HJM.NL]

I just did some digging and it seems that the Apple Watch uses the accelerometer for detection of sleepapnea. This accelerometer from applewatch 10 is the same as found on earlier models till 6.

So Apple is making it possible from Apple Watch 9 models to detect sleep apnea. It botters me that they use it as a selling point for newer watches while it’s technically possible to make it work from Apple Watch 6 and up. Seems Apple is more interested in gardening money than preventing sleep apnea.

 

[3xBoom]

I don’t know if you wanted a S9, but Costco has stock of this model with blood oxygen sensor still enabled. I know it’ll work, because I purchased old stock of the U2 in November 2024, and I haven’t had any issues with the sensor.

S9 model MR9C3LL/A supports oxygen sensor