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Apple's watchOS 26: New Health Features for Older Models

9/11/2025

Summary

Story summary

Apple will release new health features, Hypertension Notifications and Sleep Score, on older models with the watchOS 26 update on September 15.
Hypertension Notifications will monitor blood vessel responses over 30 days using the optical heart sensor.
Sleep Score will evaluate sleep quality through metrics like heart rate and blood oxygen levels, available on Series 6 and newer.
The update enhances user experience without hardware upgrades, reflecting Apple's focus on health tracking.
Regulatory approval for the hypertension feature is pending, with plans for a rollout in over 150 countries.

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Story summary

Apple will release new health features, Hypertension Notifications and Sleep Score, on older models with the watchOS 26 update on September 15.
Hypertension Notifications will monitor blood vessel responses over 30 days using the optical heart sensor.
Sleep Score will evaluate sleep quality through metrics like heart rate and blood oxygen levels, available on Series 6 and newer.
The update enhances user experience without hardware upgrades, reflecting Apple's focus on health tracking.
Regulatory approval for the hypertension feature is pending, with plans for a rollout in over 150 countries.