Today at their September 2024 event, Apple unveiled a series of major new health features coming to the Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 2. The new features, centered around sleep apnea and hearing loss prevention and assistance, will be released as part of software updates this fall.
Sleep Apnea Detection on the Apple Watch
Later this month, the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will gain the ability to detect signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea in adults who haven’t previously been diagnosed with the disorder. This detection will be based on a new metric called Breathing Disturbances, which will use the watch’s accelerometer to, in Apple’s words, ” detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to normal respiratory patterns during sleep.” Apple says the data will be analyzed on a monthly basis to detect consistent signs of sleep apnea and send sleep apnea notifications.
In addition to watchOS 11, the Breathing Disturbances metric will be added to the Health app in iOS 18, where you will be able to consult and export the data to share with a healthcare professional.
Apple expects to receive marketing authorization for sleep apnea notifications from the FDA and other health authorities soon and plans to make the feature available this month in over 150 regions, including the U.S., the EU, and Japan.
Hearing Loss Assistance with the AirPods Pro 2
Even though this event marks the second anniversary of the second-generation AirPods Pro being announced, Apple’s premium earbuds are still gaining new features via software updates. Last year, the AirPods Pro 2 received the new Adaptive Audio mode as well as Personalized Volume and Conversation Awareness. This year, they’ll be updated with new hearing loss prevention and assistance features.
Apple unveiled a new Hearing Protection setting, which will be on by default on all listening modes. The company says Hearing Protection will leverage the AirPods Pro 2’s H2 chip to “actively reduce louder, more intermittent noise at 48,000 times per second,” in addition to the passive noise reduction provided by the physical seal of the silicon ear tips.
Users will also be able to take a clinical hearing test directly on their iPhones or iPads while wearing the AirPods Pro 2. The test will take approximately five minutes and provide a summary of the results when completed. This summary will contain a number indicating hearing loss in each ear, a classification (ie. “Moderate Loss”), and hearing health recommendations. Users will also be able to share this summary with a healthcare professional from the Health app.
Taking the Hearing Test on the iPhone while wearing the AirPods Pro 2. Source: Apple.Replay
This leads us to perhaps the most impressive new addition coming to the AirPods Pro 2: Apple says the earbuds can now be used as clinical-grade hearing aids for anyone suffering from mild to moderate hearing loss. Users will be able to activate AirPods Pro 2’s hearing aid capability directly after taking the aforementioned hearing test, or with the help of an audiogram provided by a hearing health professional. As hearing aids, the AirPods Pro 2 will also adjust their personalized hearing profile and apply it to any content played back from the user’s Apple devices, including phone calls.
For its hearing test and hearing aid features, Apple is expecting to receive marketing authorization from the FDA and other health authorities this fall in over 100 countries and regions, including the U.S., Germany, and Japan.
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