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Sleep apnea detection for the Apple Watch: How does it work?

By Mariyan Slavov

Updated: Sep 16, 2024, 3:08 AM

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One of the news Apple shared during the "It's Glowtime" event was the addition of sleep apnea detection to the Apple Watch Series 10, Apple Watch Ultra 2, and the Apple Watch Series 9. This breathing disturbance is not that rare, as it affects one in every fifteen US citizens. What is sleep apnea, though?

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What is sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a sleep-related breathing disorder in which repetitive pauses in breathing, periods of shallow breathing, or collapse of the upper airway during sleep result in poor ventilation and sleep disruption.

Now, these periods of breathing disturbance can last from a few seconds to a few minutes, and they can be quite dangerous, causing coronary disease and stroke in the worst cases. So, your Apple Watch Series 10, 9, and Ultra will be able to detect this condition and alert you. But how?

How does sleep apnea detection work on the Apple Watch?

Sleep apnea detection screen in the Health app

One might assume that Apple is using the blood oxygen sensor to measure the oxygen levels in the bloodstream and tie low measurements with breathing irregularities. But it's done in a different way.

Apple uses the built-in accelerometer to detect movements at the wrist, associated with interruptions to normal breathing. To put it in layman's terms, your hand shakes ever so slightly during these episodes of sleep apnea, and the watch is able to recognize the pattern and record it.

What comes next?

The Apple Watch needs 30 days of data to be able to analyze and find patterns and then alert you of there's a potential problem. There's a new section in the Health app called Breathing Disturbances, and after 30 nights, you will see Elevated or Not Elevated readings in this section.

You can also track your Breathing Disturbances in the Health app every night to see how's your sleep quality.

Apple says it developed its sleep apnea detection feature using advanced machine learning and a large set of clinical sleep apnea tests. The company also tested the new feature in a clinical study, and everyone flagged by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnea.

At the moment, this feature is awaiting marketing authorization from the FDA and other global health authorities, but it will be available this month in more than 150 countries around the world.

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Mariyan, a tech enthusiast with a background in Nuclear Physics and Journalism, brings a unique perspective to PhoneArena. His childhood curiosity for gadgets evolved into a professional passion for technology, leading him to the role of Editor-in-Chief at PCWorld Bulgaria before joining PhoneArena. Mariyan's interests range from mainstream Android and iPhone debates to fringe technologies like graphene batteries and nanotechnology. Off-duty, he enjoys playing his electric guitar, practicing Japanese, and revisiting his love for video games and Haruki Murakami's works.