Apple gets FDA nod to bring sleep apnoea detection feature to its smartwatches

Sleep Apneoa is a serious health condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts. People diagnosed with Sleep Apneoa are vulnerable to coronary artery diseases.

Last week, Apple unveiled its new line of devices including iPhone 16, 16 Pro, AirPods 4, and Watch Series 10. The highlight of the event was the sleep apneoa detection capability in Apple's latest smart wearable.

The company revealed that the new potential life-saving feature will be enabled later via software, as it was awaiting approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

To everyone's surprise, the FDA on Monday (September 16) granted the official nod to Apple to bring the sleep apneoa detection feature to Watch Series 10 and also to the one generation old Watch Series 9. The new model is slated to hit stores later this week on September 20.

For the uninitiated, sleep apnoea is a serious health condition where breathing repeatedly stops and starts. People diagnosed with sleep apneoa are vulnerable to coronary artery diseases, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke. And, the older the person, the higher the risk of sudden death.

To detect sleep apneoa, the Apple Watch uses an accelerometer to monitor small movements at the wrist that are associated with interruptions in normal respiratory patterns. This is tracked by a new Apple Watch metric called Breathing Disturbances.

Besides Watch Series 10, the 'Sleep Apnea' detection feature will be coming to Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.

Key features of Apple Watch Series 10.

Other notable features of the new Apple Watch Series 10 are that the new model comes with a bigger display and a new processor.

It will be available in sizes—42mm and 46mm. The latest model features more rounded corners with thinner bezels, and a wider aspect ratio. it comes with a new wide-angle OLED display, which optimises each pixel to emit more light at wider angles. As a result, the display is up to 40 per cent brighter than Series 9 when viewed from an angle, making it easier to read at a glance.

Also, the company has used titanium casing, a first for Apple Watches to date. It will also be available in aluminium casing as well.

Under the hood, it comes packed with an Apple S10 SiP (System-in-Package) processor, which has a built-in 4-core Neural Engine. It runs intelligent features such as double-tap gesture, on-device Siri, dictation, Translate app, and automatic workout detection. It also powers important safety features such as Crash Detection and Fall Detection.

In India, the new aluminium Watch Series 10 (GPS-only) model price starts at Rs 46,900 and the cellular variant starts at Rs 56,900. It is available in three colours-- silver, rose gold and jet black.

The top-end model with titanium casing comes in-- GPS+Cellular-- for Rs 79,900. The latter will be available in three colours--natural titanium, gold, and slate.

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