Apple Watch Blood Pressure Notifications Get Regulatory Approval, will launch next week

Chance Miller reported last night for 9to5 Mac the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given the proverbial stamp of approval to Apple for the Apple Watch Series 11’s new hypertension detection feature. That the federal agency has given the functionality its blessing means it can officially roll out next week as part of the release of watchOS 26.

At its event on Tuesday, Apple said the blood pressure alerts were due “soon.”

“Apple says that hypertension notifications [on Apple Watch Series 11] will be available in more than 150 countries and regions around the world at launch next week, including the US, EU, Hong Kong, and New Zealand,” Miller wrote.

The timing of this news is fortuitous, as just yesterday—albeit prior to word of the FDA’s approval—I wrote about how the aforementioned hypertension alerts aren’t limited to only Apple Watch Series 11. As Miller noted, the feature is in fact available on Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 provided the devices have been updated to watchOS 26. The software is slated to be released on Monday the 15th.

Apple Watch (along with iPhone 17 and iPhone Air) is available for pre-order today.