Apple Watch users can now receive alerts for potential hypertension—a new feature approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on September 11.
This functionality doesn’t provide a high blood pressure diagnosis or measure blood pressure directly. Instead, it utilizes the watch’s optical heart sensor to monitor the contraction and expansion of blood vessels as the heart pumps. Over time, this collected data can indicate signs of hypertension and prompt an alert. Users can access a report based on this data and should consult their physician for additional assessment.
This hypertension detection capability is set to become available for all Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models, as well as subsequent iterations, across over 150 nations.
The American Heart Association (AHA) reports that about of U.S. adults suffer from high blood pressure, with many unaware of their condition. Only a fraction successfully manage their blood pressure. Untreated hypertension can increase stress on blood vessels, potentially weakening the heart and resulting in severe health issues such as strokes, heart attacks, and kidney disease. Previously, health authorities have noted that the annual cost of these hypertension-related health consequences is approximately $131 billion.
The Apple Watch feature’s approval stemmed from multiple studies involving thousands of participants. One particular study had over 2,000 normotensive adults wear the watch for 12 hours daily for nearly a month, while also using a blood pressure cuff twice a day. This research indicated that the Apple Watch’s hypertension alert performed comparably to the cuff in identifying signs of elevated blood pressure.
According to Dr. Daniel Jones, who chairs the writing committee for the 2025 AHA and American College of Cardiology (ACC) High Blood Pressure Management Guidelines (and was not involved in the Apple Watch feature’s development), early detection and awareness can help manage blood pressure before it causes permanent and detrimental bodily harm. He states, “It has long been understood that high blood pressure is a primary contributor to heart disease, stroke, and significant chronic kidney disease.” He adds, “Recent data also confirms that reducing blood pressure lessens the risk of dementia.” This underscores the importance for even younger adults “to have their blood pressure checked and to be aware of their blood pressure levels at least annually using a validated device.”
Individuals can manage hypertension through lifestyle adjustments like lowering salt consumption, achieving weight loss, and boosting physical activity to fortify the heart and blood vessels. In numerous situations, medication can also be beneficial.
Jones views devices such as the Apple Watch and its new functionality as positive advancements for health, though he warns that for blood pressure monitoring, these tools are not yet recognized as validated measurement methods by the AHA and ACC. Consequently, the data they offer should be approached with caution: while potentially useful, he advises against relying on them as the sole reference for one’s blood pressure status.
He elaborates, “Determining normal versus abnormal blood pressure is considerably more intricate than identifying irregular heart rhythms.” He further states, “I would not advise any patient to depend on a watch-based device for blood pressure alerts, unless an independent [medical] body has validated it.”
The AHA and ACC presently advise that healthy adults have their blood pressure checked at least annually, either at a medical office or pharmacy, using a validated device such as a blood-pressure cuff, or with an approved at-home blood pressure monitoring kit.
Should individuals opt to use the Apple Watch’s hypertension feature, Jones suggests cross-referencing its information with one of the aforementioned validated instruments. This practice helps prevent both false-positive and false-negative readings.
