Apple has officially rolled out the high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, detection feature for Apple Watch users in Malaysia. First introduced at Apple’s 2025 September launch event, the feature is available for Apple Watch Series 9 and later, as well as Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later.
What is hypertension?
Said to be the leading modifiable risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease, hypertension is said to impact around 1.4 billion adults globally. However, hypertension is often undiagnosed as it has no symptoms, and even if the patient visits a doctor, hypertension can be easily missed with a single measurement.
That said, the hypertension detection feature on the Apple Watch is estimated to help notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension worldwide within its first year of availability.
How does hypertension detection work?
The hypertension detection feature uses the optical heart sensor on the Apple Watch to analyse how your blood vessels respond to the beats of your heart. The algorithm then reviews the data over 30-day periods in the background and will notify you when a potential issue is detected.
If you happen to get a notification, it’s recommended that you log your blood pressure for seven days using a third-party blood pressure cuff and later share your results with your provider.
