How Sleep Apnea Detection Works for Apple Watch Series 10, Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra

[MacRumors]

Apple is adding sleep apnea detection to the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the Apple Watch Series 9. Given that sleep apnea is a breathing disturbance, it's easy to assume that it requires the blood oxygen sensor, but Apple actually uses an entirely different method to detect it.

Breathing Disturbances, the name for the new Apple Watch metric, uses the built-in accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep.

The Apple Watch collects 30 days of data and then analyzes it, alerting users if there are consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Users will see Elevated or Not Elevated readings under the Breathing Disturbances section of the Health app, and the data can be used to share with a doctor to get information on the next steps for sleep apnea diagnosis and treatment.

While aggregating data for sleep apnea detection requires 30 days of information, users can see an overall look at their nightly Breathing Disturbances in the Health app to assess the restfulness of sleep. Breathing patterns can be interrupted by alcohol, medications, and sleep position.

With sleep apnea, breathing momentarily stops during sleep, which stops the body from getting adequate oxygen and often has the effect of waking a person up. It can be a difficult condition to diagnose because it occurs during sleep, and Apple says that more than 1 billion people are estimated to be impacted worldwide.

Apple says that its sleep apnea notification algorithm was created using advanced machine learning and an extensive data set of clinical-grade sleep apnea tests, and then it was validated in a clinical study. Every participant identified by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnea.

Apple expects sleep apnea detection to get marketing authorization from the FDA and other global health authorities in the near future, and it will be available this month in more than 150 countries.

Article Link: How Sleep Apnea Detection Works for Apple Watch Series 10, Series 9, and Apple Watch Ultra

 

[McWetty]

Can someone smarter than me explain why this isn’t available on AWU1?

 

[johnmed]

Can someone smarter than me explain why this isn’t available on AWU1?

$$$

 

[surfzen21]

Can someone smarter than me explain why this isn’t available on AWU1?

There is no hardware reason.

It is purely Apple being Apple.

The accelerometer is exactly the same.

I am surprised Apple is gatekeeping what they would consider an important health feature.

Maybe they will see how many new, not new, AWU2's they can sell and then add it to AWU OGs in the future but I wouldn't count on that.

At least my Ultra has the O2 sensor which I would think would play a roll as well.

 

[PsykX]

Will it be available in Canada ? The feature isn't even showing up on Apple.com/ca

I checked for France and it is showing up.


If it doesn't come, I'll cancel my order and wait another year.

 

[BellSystem]

No point in talking about it….I doubt they will ever get the o2 sensor sorted in time for it to matter.

 

[Polinsky]

At least my Ultra has the O2 sensor which I would think would play a roll as well.

But Apple has specifically stated that they are using a different method, not involving O2 measurements. Why do you insist otherwise? There is so much Apple hate here that makes people literally make up nonsense.

 

[Eorlas]

Oh, I must have missed in the presentation where awu2 gets it too

 

[fel10]

So to get this feature you don’t need to get the new series 10? My AWU 2 will have it with just an update?

 

[Tomasulu]

Not sure anyone feels the same I just don’t feel comfortable wearing a watch to sleep.

 

[Apple_Robert]

How will this differentiate between apnea and just a person tossing and turning normally? This needs the missing sensor to be worthwhile.

 

[surfzen21]

But Apple has specifically stated that they are using a different method, not involving O2 measurements. Why do you insist otherwise? There is so much Apple hate here that makes people literally make up nonsense.

LMAO

Please take a deep breath and calm down.

First, I did not INSIST anything. How you got an insistence from my statement that merely says "I would think". Sounds like you are doing a lot of metal gymnastics. I hope you win the gold.

Keep cherry picking specific moments in time to create a narrative that doesn't tell the true picture of Apple's work on SA.

O2 was 100% part of the detection plan before the lawsuit around the sensor. They were even working an algorithms to side step the judges ruling. It didn't work out for Apple though. Is there method used now inferior? Not my expertise but I can say it was not their first choice of methods.

If I hated Apple I wouldn't own their stock or have 10 plus Apple products.

As a user and shareholder I have every right to criticize them. My financial investments have bought me that right.

AND.....sometimes my investor criticisms conflict with my customer criticisms. I am allowed both.

 

[jz0309]

Not sure anyone feels the same I just don’t feel comfortable wearing a watch to sleep.

I am comfortable wearing my Ultra 2 while sleeping… as with almost everything, some people like it and others don’t…

 

[jz0309]

How will this differentiate between apnea and just a person tossing and turning normally? This needs the missing sensor to be worthwhile.

Yea, good question… they talked about that they conducted a huge study, and, given that they are going to get FDA clearance, I would expect it to work …
They might release more details upon release

 

[surfzen21]

Not sure anyone feels the same I just don’t feel comfortable wearing a watch to sleep.

I have an average to maybe small size wrist and wear my Ultra every night.

I don't feel it on my wrist. The only issue I've ever had was scratching my iPhone screen, probably on the edge of my watch, while tossing around on a semi-sleepless night.

So after 15 years on no screen protector I now use one.

 

[jz0309]

Can someone smarter than me explain why this isn’t available on AWU1?

The S9 was quite an upgrade over the S8, since this feature analyzes 30 days of data, maybe it needs the neural cores from the S9? I’m referring to the SiP “chip”

 

[VictoryHighway]

Figures, I have an Apple Watch Series 9 which is my daily driver, but I charge it overnight and use my old Series 6 for sleep tracking.

 

[Mazda 3s]

Can someone smarter than me explain why this isn’t available on AWU1?

It’s really infuriating. You buy Apple’s next-gen top of the line watch, and they gatekeep seemingly trivial-to-them to implement, but could beneficial to the people that bought their $$$ trinket.

Missing out on the two finger pinch/tap from the Ultra 2/Series 9 was a slap in the face, but leaving us out of the sleep apnea seems feels like a kick in the nuts.

Especially when I’d think that people keep their watches longer than phones.

 

[jeremz1ne]

least it'll be on watch 9 so im happy

 

[MrMojo1]

So this sleep apnea function appears to monitor whether or not someone may have sleep apnea.
So then what? So a sleep specialist/doctor afterwards?
Why not just see a sleep specialist/doctor and get a sleep study done to actually get a medical diagnosis?
For some, like self, who actually use a CPAP, this sleep apnea function isn't really useful.

Apple says that the iWatch is not a medical device and not to use it as such but it keeps encroaching the gray area of medical diagnosis. The iWatch is a decent fitness device for many and probably the only reason to buy it.

If Apple includes a blood pressure (BP) feature in a future iWatch model, it will be a must buy for many people, including self.
It'll be interesting if Apple does that and see what type of wristband is created to help measure the BP. Every doctor and nurse I've met and have, had said that wrist pressure cuffs are not as accurate as arm pressure cuffs.

 

[azhava]

So this sleep apnea function appears to monitor whether or not someone may have sleep apnea.
So then what? So a sleep specialist/doctor afterwards?
Why not just see a sleep specialist/doctor and get a sleep study done to actually get a medical diagnosis?
For some, like self, who actually use a CPAP, this sleep apnea function isn't really useful.

Apple says that the iWatch is not a medical device and not to use it as such but it keeps encroaching the gray area of medical diagnosis. The iWatch is a decent fitness device for many and probably the only reason to buy it.

I guess the same could be said of the Atrial Fibrillation detection feature and bradycardia/tachycardia warnings as well, then. Heck, why bother having health sensors in the phone at all, for that matter?

Sleep apnea is undiagnosed in a lot of people - they don't realize they suffer from it, and may never realize it unless something like this feature tipped them off to it. Not everybody has health insurance that would pay for them to go have a sleep study done simply because they wondered if maybe they had sleep apnea or not, and I'm sure those studies aren't cheap. Just because it's not useful to you doesn't mean it's not useful to anybody.

 

[RSmith2023]

How will this differentiate between apnea and just a person tossing and turning normally? This needs the missing sensor to be worthwhile.

Care to explain? Wear mine to bed every night to get the sleep, cardio & respiratory metrics associated with sleep. This one is welcome as well.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Care to explain? Wear mine to bed every night to get the sleep, cardio & respiratory metrics associated with sleep. This one is welcome as well.

To get more accurate results, the oxygen levels need to be monitored. That won’t happen with what Apple has talked about in the article.

 

[jz0309]

So this sleep apnea function appears to monitor whether or not someone may have sleep apnea.
So then what? So a sleep specialist/doctor afterwards?
Why not just see a sleep specialist/doctor and get a sleep study done to actually get a medical diagnosis?
For some, like self, who actually use a CPAP, this sleep apnea function isn't really useful.

Apple says that the iWatch is not a medical device and not to use it as such but it keeps encroaching the gray area of medical diagnosis. The iWatch is a decent fitness device for many and probably the only reason to buy it.

If Apple includes a blood pressure (BP) feature in a future iWatch model, it will be a must buy for many people, including self.
It'll be interesting if Apple does that and see what type of wristband is created to help measure the BP. Every doctor and nurse I've met and have, had said that wrist pressure cuffs are not as accurate as arm pressure cuffs.

To see a doctor you’ll have to pay/get a referral which a lot of people don’t do, and some doctors and insurances are on the “stingy” side and even deny, so, if you have the AW, you can provide data to your doctor, basically “free” as in included in the price of the watch, without the hassle of seeing doctor and such.
similar to ECG and a fib detection …

as for blood pressure, new sensors under development to measure a different way, and, rumors had suggested it’s not “hard” values but trends. As for those sensors, not that long ago your body temp was measure in your behind, mouth, under armpit and now? the nurse points a gun towards your forehead - technology evolved

 

[onenorth]

Can someone smarter than me explain why this isn’t available on AWU1?

$$$

Most likely due to the cost of getting FDA approval for a device that has been off the market for awhile.

Recently my veterinarian prescribed an off-label drug for my cat that is only FDA approved for dogs. She said studies show it is safe and effective for cats but the drug company doesn’t want to spend money on approval for cats. So yeah, it’s a cost thing.