sleep score assistance and hypertension alerts. The latter is particularly crucial, as it adds another potentially lifesaving attribute to the Apple Watch. Elevated blood pressure (hypertension) poses a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, yet it may present without any noticeable symptoms. Utilizing the Apple Watch to track blood pressure through the new algorithm in watchOS 26 can facilitate quicker diagnosis and treatment for adults free from hypertension.
It’s essential to clarify that the Apple Watch models that offer this functionality will not show hypertension measurements in real time, as they do with heart rate or blood oxygen readings (where applicable). Rather, the algorithm observes the behavior of blood vessels over a span of 30 days to assess high blood pressure levels. Alerts will only be generated post-analysis, and they will not indicate specific blood pressure figures.
While Apple presented the hypertension alert feature during the iPhone 17 event, it had to await the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval before activating it on compatible devices. Shortly after the event, Apple obtained the necessary clearance, and hypertension alerts are currently accessible to users. Nevertheless, the feature isn’t activated by default. You must enable it manually on your iPhone.
Before activating hypertension alerts, you’ll need to verify that you can utilize the feature on your Apple devices. The positive news is that hypertension notifications aren’t limited to the Apple Watch Series 11 or Apple Watch Ultra 3. Previous versions also provide this functionality, including Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2. You will need to update the watch to watchOS 26 to enable it.
Furthermore, the Apple Watch must be paired with an iPhone that supports iOS 26, which entails an iPhone 11 model or newer. Apple also states in a support document that the Wrist Detection feature should be activated. Wrist
