The debut of the Apple Watch Series 11 introduced a host of new health and wellness features, from Sleep Score to hypertension notifications, but the latter wasn’t available in Singapore at launch. Following clearance from the Health Sciences Authority (HSA), the feature has now been rolled out, alerting users if signs of chronic high blood pressure are detected.
Backed by scientific research, it works by analysing data from the optical heart sensor over 30-day periods to detect a pattern of hypertension, the leading modifiable risk factor for heart attack, stroke, and kidney disease. Here’s how to turn it on:
- On your iPhone, open the Health app.
- Tap your profile icon in the upper corner.
- Under Features, tap Health checklist.
- Tap Hypertension Notifications.
- Confirm your age, and if you’ve ever been diagnosed with hypertension, then tap Continue.
- Tap Next to follow the onscreen prompts to learn how the notifications work.
- Tap Done.
It should be noted that hypertension notifications are not intended to diagnose, treat or aid in the management of the condition, and that users must be 22 years or older, not pregnant, and have not been diagnosed with hypertension. Those who receive an alert are recommended to log their blood pressure for seven days using a third-party blood pressure cuff and share the results with their healthcare professional at their next visit.
The feature is available on Apple Watch Series 9 or later, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 or later, with watchOS 26, which includes the Liquid Glass language redesign, two new watch faces, Flow and Exactograph, a new one-handed wrist flick gesture, Smart Stack Hints, Live Translation in Messages, and more. An iPhone 11 or later with the latest version of iOS is also required.
The Apple Watch Series 11 comes in 42mm and 46mm sizes in jet black, rose gold, silver, and space grey aluminium finishes, as well as natural, gold, and slate for the polished titanium iterations. Both start at S$599 and S$1,049, respectively.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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