Three Apple Watches get FDA approval for detection of sleep condition that usually goes undiagnosed

Remember when all a watch did was tell the time?

With the rise of smartwatches, which can do everything from tracking your workouts to sending you notifications from your phone, those days are long in the past.

Now, the Apple Watch Series 10 has brought a new highlight health feature that could potentially change your life. And, it's FDA approved.

Just in time for the launch of the feature as part of its watchOS 11 update, which arrives today (September 16), three models of Apple Watch have received approval to detect sleep apnea.

According to the Mayo Clinic, sleep apnea is a potentially serious disorder in which a person's breathing repeatedly stops and starts during sleep.

Although these interruptions are too brief to be dangerous, they do disrupt the sufferers' sleep, leading to a whole host of other health risks.

Some symptoms of the condition include loud snoring, gasping for air during sleep, waking up with a dry mouth and insomnia.

Sleep apnea is thought to impact more than 1 billion people worldwide but, in most cases, it goes undiagnosed.

With the watchOS 11 update, three devices - the Apple Watch Series 10, Series 9 and Ultra 2 - will be able to detect if the wearer is experiencing it.

They will use a built-in accelerometer to detect movements indicative of sleep disturbance, a tool that was validated in a clinical study in which every participant identified by the algorithm had at least mild sleep apnea.

Apple says: "Breathing Disturbances is an innovative new Apple Watch metric that uses the accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep.

Sleep apnea detection in Apple Watch Series 10 #AppleEvent pic.twitter.com/JHdhZflH35

— Apple Hub (@theapplehub) September 9, 2024

"Every 30 days, Apple Watch will analyse breathing disturbance data and notify users if it shows consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea so they can speak to their doctor about next steps, including potential diagnosis and treatment."

Users can even export a PDF that 'shows when sleep apnea may have occurred, three months of breathing disturbance data, and additional information' to share with their doctor.

And people are impressed with the feature, with some taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share their thoughts.

One person wrote: "That's the perfect use of AI."

Another said "Awesome feature! Sleep apnea detection is such a game changer for health monitoring."

And a third added that Breathing Disturbances is a 'life saving addition right here.'