Hypertension notifications and Sleep Score are rolling out with WatchOS 26, and older Apple Watches will get them too.
Turns out the biggest new Apple Watch health features don’t require new hardware. One of the standout moments at Apple’s September event was the announcement of two new health features on the Apple Watch: hypertension notifications and a new sleep score. Hypertension notifications will alert Apple Watch owners of potential signs of high blood pressure, a condition that often goes undiagnosed in millions of people. Sleep Score, meanwhile, grades the quality of your rest on a 0–100 scale.
Because these new features were unveiled on stage as part of the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 announcement at the keynote, many (including myself) assumed they’d be exclusive to the newest high-end models. But upon closer review, Apple is staying true to its promise to roll out features as they’re ready and not just when new hardware drops.
Both these features will be coming not just with the new models, but also with the update to WatchOS 26 and could go as far back as the Series 6 and Apple Watch SE (2nd gen) in the case of Sleep Score.
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While it’s not the full blood pressure monitoring that many Apple Watch fans were hoping for, hypertension alerts use existing sensors to tackle a serious health concern: a potentially fatal, silent condition that many people don’t even realize they’re living with.
