Apple Watch now offers high blood pressure notifications

October 8, 2025

The latest versions of the Apple Watch (Series 11 and Ultra 3), released Sept. 19, have a new health feature: hypertension notifications, representing a breakthrough addition to the heart health features offered by Apple Watch.

The watch does not directly measure blood pressure, but works via optical heart rate sensing to detect signs pointing to possible chronic hypertension, based on data collected in the background during 30-day periods. The feature was developed using advanced machine learning and is based on studies of more than 100,000 people; a further study was necessary to obtain approval by Health Canada.

To take advantage of the feature, users can set it up in the Health App on their iPhone, then simply wear their watch daily. The feature should not be used during pregnancy, since blood pressure may be temporarily lower or higher than normal during pregnancy. Running Mag