Apple has recently received Australian regulatory approval for a significant health feature on its Apple Watch: hypertension detection.
The capability, which was announced in 2025, needed clearance from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) before its accessibility for Australian users.
With the new approval grant, a software update will enable the feature on Apple Watch Series 9 and later models, Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer versions.
With this feature, the Cupertino-based tech giant aims to increase hypertension awareness across the country, a common condition that is affecting a projected 1.4 billion people worldwide, and also considered a root cause of several fatal diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), stroke, and kidney disease.
The Apple Watch does not measure blood pressure directly but it monitors cardiac and blood vessel activity over a 30-day period using advanced optical sensors.
Once users are diagnosed with hypertension, they will instantly receive a notification regarding their condition with a recommendation to seek medical advice.
Apple conducted trials involving over 100,000 participants to establish benchmarks for hypertension detection, which was followed by smaller clinical studies to gain regulatory approval.
After receiving notification, users are prompted to record manual blood pressure readings using a sphygmomanometer.
Experts stated that Apple’s approach could create awareness regarding a major health risk.
