Apple has rolled out its new sleep apnea notifications feature to Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 and Ultra Watch 2 in Canada.
As unveiled during last month’s iPhone 16 event and approved by Health Canada last month, the feature allows your Apple Watch to monitor your breathing patterns while you’re in bed to look for signs of sleep apnea. To do this, the Watch uses its accelerometer to detect small movements that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns. Apple notes that some of these disturbances can be normal, so the idea is the Apple Watch will monitor this every night for regular occurrences. You’ll be able to view your breathing disturbances in the Health app on iPhone and iPad.
Every 30 days, the Health app will analyze collected data and notify the user if there are consistent signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. These notifications will include the time period when potential sleep apnea occurred, educational materials on the importance of seeking treatment and a PDF providing three months of breathing disturbances data and other relevant information to reference when speaking with a healthcare provider.
As Apple notes, as many as 80 percent of people with sleep apnea are undiagnosed, and the disorder can lead to hypertension, Type 2 diabetes and cardiac issues if left untreated. The new feature is intended to detect mild to severe cases of sleep apnea.
To receive the sleep apnea notifications, go to the Health app, visit the Browse tab, select ‘Sleep’ and enable the feature. It will then ask you if you’re 18 or older and have been diagnosed with sleep apnea before.
Apple says the feature was developed using advanced machine learning and clinical-grade sleep apnea tests, which were then validated by a clinical study.
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