We’re incredibly proud to introduce a first-of-its-kind Hearing Aid feature, coming this fall with AirPods Pro 2, plus an innovative way to detect signs of sleep apnea with Apple Watch. These life-changing tools will help people connect more deeply & live healthier.
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) September 10, 2024
Understanding Sleep Apnea
Apple says the Apple Watch will use the ‘Breathing Disturbances’ metric to determine if the user suffers from sleep apnea.
The feature is expected to receive marketing authorisation from the US FDA and other health authorities worldwide soon and will be available in over 150 countries. It will only be available on the Apple Watch Series 10, Ultra 2, and Series 9.
Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder where a person can stop breathing momentarily during sleep, taking a toll on their physical and mental well-being. The condition reportedly affects over 1 billion people and, if left untreated, can increase the risk of blood pressure, adult-onset diabetes and other conditions related to the heart.
Apple says the ‘Breathing Disturbances’ metric uses the accelerometer to detect small wrist movements that indicate interruptions to breathing patterns during sleep. The watch will analyse breathing disturbance data every 30 days and notify the user, indicating signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea.
Also read: Apple Event 2024: Apple unveils thinner Apple Watch Series 10 and new AirPods
Hearing Assistance
With AirPods Pro 2, Apple aims to provide what it calls the ‘first all-in-one hearing health experience’ with active Hearing Protection. This feature, too, is awaiting marketing authorisation and is expected to be available in over 100 countries, including the US, Japan, and Germany.
AirPods Pro can transform into a clinical-grade hearing aid for users with mild to moderate hearing loss. Users can make personalised adjustments that help them seamlessly engage in a conversation and their environment. The Hearing Aid feature can also be set up with an audiogram created by a hearing health professional.
The company’s vice president of health, Sumbul Desai, says, “At Apple, we believe that technology can help you live a healthier life, and we’re excited to enable incredible new health capabilities for serious conditions that affect billions of people around the world while continuing to keep user data private. With Apple Watch, we continue to offer our users the ability to uncover important health conditions with new sleep apnea notifications. And on AirPods Pro, powerful features put users’ hearing health front and centre, bringing new ways to help test for and receive assistance for hearing loss.”
How Apple Transformed Healthcare
Apple launched its Health app in 2014 and has since transformed the wearables device segment into a suite of healthcare-focused products.
Today, a user can track over 150 health parameters, including sleep, menstrual cycle, medications, and workout details. Apple Watch users can also receive low and high heart rate notifications.
Today, almost every smartwatch boasts these features. Samsung Galaxy smartwatches have sleep apnea detection and cardio health functions, while Garmin offers a whole array of health and fitness tracking features, such as body battery, ECG, blood oxygen, stress, and more.
Apple has always set the trend. Even if it is late to the party, Apple can take even existing features to the mainstream.
The Apple Watch currently offers heart rate monitoring, ECG, and blood oxygen tracking. Apple has been long rumoured to be working on a non-invasive way to measure blood glucose through the Watch.
Also read: Apple’s AI gap in new iPhones disappoints China users as Huawei threat looms
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