Apple Watch, AirPods to include sleep apnea, hearing features

Apple has unveiled new sleep and hearing health features on the Apple Watch and AirPods Pro 2.

The new features add to the technology giant's growing suite of healthcare products and services. The company's iPhone and iPad products are already widely used in the healthcare industry, its Health app records various daily health metrics like step count and it has previously added atrial fibrillation history recording and medication tracking capabilities to the Apple Watch.

With the new sleep apnea feature, Apple Watch users will receive notifications if the device detects signs of moderate to severe sleep apnea. Sleep apnea is a sleep disorder in which a person stops breathing momentarily during sleep and does not get enough oxygen. About 30 million U.S. adults have the condition; however, millions go undiagnosed, according to the American Lung Association. Untreated sleep apnea is linked to high blood pressure, stroke, heart attack, and congestive heart failure, among other diseases.

Apple has created a Breathing Disturbances metric, which utilizes the device's accelerometer to detect small movements at the wrist associated with interruptions to standard respiratory patterns during sleep. The Apple Watch will analyze this data every 30 days and alert users if signs of sleep apnea are detected. The user can then share information with their healthcare providers to receive treatment for the condition.

The metric can also assess sleep restfulness. The metric is affected by alcohol, medications, sleep position, and other factors, and based on these factors, the user's breathing disturbances metric is classified as elevated or not elevated. Users can view the metric classification in their Apple Health app.

In addition to the new sleep apnea feature within the Apple Watch, Apple is adding hearing protection capabilities, a hearing test feature and an over-the-counter hearing aid feature to the AirPods Pro 2.

The hearing protection capabilities include ear tips that provide passive noise reduction and an H2 chip that reduces loud, more intermittent noises.

Additionally, users can take a hearing test in their homes using the AirPods Pro 2 and a compatible iPhone or iPad. The test is based on the pure-tone audiometry approach, which measures hearing sensitivity. During the test, various tones will come through the user's AirPods, and users will be asked to tap their iPhone or iPad screens when they hear a tone.

A summary of the results, including a number representing hearing loss in each ear, a classification, recommendations and an audiogram, will be available to view within the Apple Health app. The results can be shared with a healthcare provider.

Further, the new hearing aid feature will turn the AirPods Pro into a clinical-grade hearing aid, providing automatic sound adjustments to support users with hearing issues. The feature uses the personalized hearing profile developed from the hearing test to automatically apply sound adjustments.

The sleep apnea notifications will launch later this month, while the hearing test and hearing aid features will be available in the fall.

"At Apple, we believe that technology can help you live a healthier life, and we're excited to enable incredible new health capabilities for serious conditions that affect billions of people around the world, while continuing to keep user data private," said Sumbul Desai, MD, Apple's vice president of health, in a press release.

Data privacy is an ongoing concern with Apple devices and other commercial healthcare wearables, prompting U.S. lawmakers to scrutinize tech companies' healthcare data privacy protocols.

In 2022, four U.S. senators sent a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission to launch an investigation into Apple and Google's data privacy practices, describing them as "unfair and deceptive."

The letter alleged that the companies knowingly enabled "the collection and sale of hundreds of millions of mobile phone users' personal data."

Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers the virtual healthcare landscape, including telehealth, remote patient monitoring and digital therapeutics.