Apple introduces groundbreaking well being options

September 9, 2024

PRESS RELEASE

Apple introduces groundbreaking well being options to help circumstances impacting billions of individuals

Apple Watch delivers new sleep apnea notifications, and AirPods Professional 2 present the world’s first all-in-one listening to well being expertise together with a clinical-grade, over-the-counter Listening to Assist characteristic

CUPERTINO, CALIFORNIA Apple immediately unveiled breakthrough sleep and listening to well being options coming to Apple Watch and AirPods Professional 2 that additional ship on Apple’s dedication to well being with experiences that enrich customers’ lives. These new options develop throughout merchandise, bringing informative and highly effective methods to help customers of their sleep and listening to well being for circumstances that influence billions globally.

Utilizing an revolutionary new Respiratory Disturbances metric, sleep apnea notifications come to Apple Watch, including to the numerous methods Apple Watch acts as an clever guardian for customers’ well being. The sleep apnea notifications are anticipated to obtain advertising authorization from the Meals and Drug Administration (FDA) and different international well being authorities quickly, with availability this month in additional than 150 nations and areas, together with the U.S., the EU, and Japan.¹

Apple is offering the world’s first all-in-one listening to well being expertise with AirPods Professional with energetic Listening to Safety,² a clinically validated Listening to Take a look at characteristic, and an over-the-counter Listening to Assist characteristic. The primary-of-its-kind software-based Listening to Assist characteristic helps make entry to listening to help simpler than ever at an approachable value level. The Listening to Take a look at and Listening to Assist options are anticipated to obtain advertising authorization from international well being authorities quickly, and might be obtainable this fall in additional than 100 nations and areas, together with the U.S., Germany, and Japan.³

“At Apple, we imagine that expertise might help you reside a more healthy life, and we’re excited to allow unimaginable new well being capabilities for critical circumstances that have an effect on billions of individuals all over the world, whereas persevering with to maintain consumer knowledge personal,” mentioned Sumbul Desai, M.D., Apple’s vice chairman of Well being. “With Apple Watch, we proceed to supply our customers the flexibility to uncover essential well being circumstances with new sleep apnea notifications. And on AirPods Professional, highly effective options put customers’ listening to well being entrance and middle, bringing new methods to assist take a look at for and obtain help for listening to loss.”

A Highly effective Method to Detect Indicators of Sleep Apnea

Sleep is a crucial space of well being because it impacts an individual’s general bodily and psychological wellbeing. Sleep apnea is a prevalent dysfunction wherein respiratory momentarily stops throughout sleep, stopping the physique from getting sufficient oxygen. The situation is estimated to influence greater than 1 billion individuals worldwide, and typically, goes undiagnosed. If left untreated, it could actually have essential well being penalties over time, together with elevated danger of hypertension, sort 2 diabetes, and cardiac points.

Respiratory Disturbances is an revolutionary new Apple Watch metric that makes use of the accelerometer to detect small actions on the wrist related to interruptions to regular respiratory patterns throughout sleep. Each 30 days, Apple Watch will analyze respiratory disturbance knowledge and notify customers if it reveals constant indicators of reasonable to extreme sleep apnea to allow them to communicate to their physician about subsequent steps, together with potential analysis and therapy.

As a result of general high quality of sleep is essential, Respiratory Disturbances may also be used to evaluate restfulness of sleep. Respiratory Disturbances might be influenced by alcohol, drugs, sleep place, and extra. Customers can view their nightly Respiratory Disturbances within the Well being app, the place they’re categorised as elevated or not elevated, and might be considered over a one-month, six-month, or one-year interval.

For extra knowledgeable conversations with their healthcare suppliers, customers can export a PDF that reveals when sleep apnea could have occurred, three months of respiratory disturbance knowledge, and extra data. Instructional articles are additionally obtainable inside the Well being app to assist customers study extra about sleep apnea.

The sleep apnea notification algorithm was developed utilizing superior machine studying and an intensive knowledge set of clinical-grade sleep apnea assessments. The characteristic was then validated in a scientific examine — unprecedented in measurement for sleep apnea expertise. Within the scientific validation examine, each participant recognized by the algorithm had at the very least gentle sleep apnea.

“Empowering shoppers in all places to have the flexibility to reliably establish the presence of irregular respiratory patterns throughout sleep might help uncover a woefully underdiagnosed and critical medical situation equivalent to sleep apnea,” mentioned Sairam Parthasarathy, M.D., College of Arizona Well being Sciences Middle for Sleep, Circadian, and Neurosciences’s professor and director in Tucson, Arizona. “It is a main step ahead in bettering public well being.”

Sleep apnea notifications and Respiratory Disturbances add to a variety of sleep well being options for Apple Watch customers. Along with monitoring essential in a single day well being metrics like coronary heart fee and respiratory fee, Apple Watch additionally helps customers meet their sleep objectives and monitor their sleep over time.

The World’s First All-in-One Listening to Well being Expertise

Roughly 1.5 billion individuals all over the world reside with listening to loss, in line with the World Well being Group. Analysis has additionally recognized hyperlinks between listening to loss and influence on an individual’s general wellbeing, together with dementia and social isolation.

To assist customers higher perceive their listening to well being, Apple is introducing an end-to-end expertise targeted on prevention, consciousness, and help.

Prevention

Based on the Apple Listening to Research — a longitudinal, digital public analysis examine carried out in collaboration with the College of Michigan Faculty of Public Well being and the World Well being Group — one in three individuals are repeatedly uncovered to loud environmental noise ranges that may influence their listening to. That may embody frequent situations like taking the subway whereas commuting, mowing the garden at residence, attending a sporting occasion, and plenty of extra.

With a purpose to assist customers stop publicity to loud environmental noise whereas preserving the sound signature of what they’re listening to, Listening to Safety involves AirPods Professional. The ear suggestions assist to offer passive noise discount, whereas the H2 chip helps to actively cut back louder, extra intermittent noise at 48,000 occasions per second. On by default throughout all listening modes, Listening to Safety is useful in a wide range of loud settings. Plus, with an all-new multiband excessive dynamic vary algorithm, sounds at dwell occasions like concert events stay pure and vibrant.

Consciousness

Listening to loss typically worsens regularly, leaving many individuals unaware that they could be dwelling with the situation. Eighty % of adults within the U.S. haven’t had their listening to checked within the final 5 years, in line with the American Speech-Language-Listening to Affiliation. To present customers much more insights into listening to well being, Apple is introducing an intuitive, clinical-grade listening to take a look at primarily based on the usual scientific strategy referred to as pure-tone audiometry that customers can take themselves with their AirPods Professional and a appropriate iPhone or iPad.

Customers can take the handy take a look at in about 5 minutes from the consolation of their very own residence. The Listening to Take a look at characteristic leverages superior acoustic science and gives customers with an interactive expertise. When a consumer completes the take a look at, they’ll see an easy-to-understand abstract of their outcomes, together with a quantity representing listening to loss in every ear, a classification, and proposals. The outcomes, which embody an audiogram, are saved privately and securely within the Well being app, and might be shared with a healthcare supplier to have extra knowledgeable conversations.

The Listening to Take a look at builds on learnings from the Apple Listening to Research and was developed utilizing large-scale, real-world knowledge. The characteristic was then validated in opposition to the scientific gold normal of pure-tone audiometry.

“Listening to well being is a cornerstone of general wellbeing. Defending and preserving our listening to enhances our high quality of life each within the short-term and long-term,” mentioned Rick Neitzel, College of Michigan Faculty of Public Well being’s professor of Environmental Well being Sciences and principal investigator of the Apple Listening to Research. “I’m thrilled Apple is introducing essential instruments to help individuals’s listening to well being. These instruments will assist individuals defend their ears from noise air pollution, concentrate on adjustments of their listening to over time, and have essential conversations with their healthcare suppliers after they want extra help.”

Help

Studying about listening to loss is a essential step to getting mandatory help, which may typically be difficult as a consequence of value and entry. World analysis reveals listening to loss typically goes untreated. In actual fact, the Apple Listening to Research revealed that 75 % of individuals identified with listening to loss haven’t acquired the assistive help that they want.

AirPods Professional add an revolutionary over-the-counter Listening to Assist functionality for customers with gentle to reasonable listening to loss. Utilizing the customized listening to profile from the Listening to Take a look at, this new characteristic seamlessly transforms AirPods Professional right into a clinical-grade listening to support. After setup, the characteristic allows customized dynamic changes so customers have the sounds round them boosted in actual time. This helps them higher have interaction in dialog, and retains them linked to the individuals and surroundings round them. With the unimaginable audio high quality of AirPods Professional, the consumer’s customized listening to profile is robotically utilized to music, films, video games, and cellphone calls throughout their gadgets, with no need to regulate any settings. Customers may also arrange the Listening to Assist characteristic with an audiogram created by a listening to well being skilled.

The Listening to Assist characteristic was clinically validated in a managed, randomized examine that evaluated the perceived advantage of the characteristic and its customized settings in comparison with an audiologist-assisted setup.

After taking the Listening to Take a look at, the consumer’s listening to profile may also assist to personalize the AirPods Professional listening expertise for much more individuals, together with these with little to no listening to loss who can nonetheless profit from particular changes at particular person frequencies. To assist present one of the best listening expertise, Media Help is an all-new characteristic that helps enhance sure elements of speech on a cellphone name or devices inside a soundtrack to assist a fair broader inhabitants.

These options construct on the listening to well being instruments Apple at the moment affords its customers. For instance, with the Noise app, Apple Watch customers can allow notifications for when environmental noise ranges would possibly have an effect on their listening to well being. On iPhone, customers can set a headphone quantity restrict the place they will activate Scale back Loud Audio and drag a slider to a most well-liked decibel degree. Apple additionally affords extra accessibility options for customers to customise settings to fulfill their listening to wants.

“For many years, Apple has led the way in which in designing merchandise for everybody and supporting customers with a broad spectrum of listening to talents,” mentioned Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director of World Accessibility Coverage and Initiatives. “These options on AirPods Professional will make an influence on so many individuals by driving extra consciousness round listening to well being and empowering people with new customizable instruments to assist them keep linked.”

Further options coming to Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad embody:

• The brand new Vitals app on Apple Watch provides customers a option to examine in on their day by day well being standing and consider key in a single day well being metrics, like coronary heart fee and respiratory fee, and achieve higher context with regards to their well being.

• The Well being app affords extra help for pregnant customers to replicate adjustments of their bodily and psychological well being throughout this essential time. Customers can view the present gestational age and log signs in Cycle Monitoring. Apple Watch customers may also obtain suggestions to evaluation options like excessive coronary heart fee notifications.

• Time spent journaling might be saved as conscious minutes within the Well being app, and customers can log their way of thinking proper in Journal.

Since launching the Well being app in 2014, Apple has launched significant options that concentrate on 18 areas of well being and health throughout Apple Watch, AirPods, iPhone, and iPad. Apple is dedicated to empowering customers on their well being journey by constructing actionable options into the merchandise they use every single day which can be grounded in science, and have privateness on the core.

Constructed with Privateness on the Core

Privateness is key within the design and growth throughout all of Apple’s well being options. When a consumer’s machine is locked with a passcode, Contact ID, or Face ID, all of their well being and health knowledge within the Well being app — apart from Medical ID — is encrypted. Any Well being knowledge backed as much as iCloud is encrypted each in transit and on Apple servers. When utilizing iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS with the default two-factor authentication and a passcode, Well being app knowledge synced to iCloud is encrypted end-to-end, which means that Apple doesn’t have the important thing to decrypt the info and due to this fact can’t learn it.

Availability

• Some options will not be obtainable in all areas or all languages, or with all makes and fashions.

• The sleep apnea notifications are anticipated to obtain advertising authorization from the FDA and different international well being authorities quickly, with availability this month in additional than 150 nations and areas, together with the U.S., the EU, and Japan. The characteristic might be supported on Apple Watch Sequence 9, Apple Watch Sequence 10, and Apple Watch Extremely 2.

• The Listening to Take a look at and Assist options are anticipated to obtain advertising authorization from international well being authorities quickly and might be supported with AirPods Professional 2 with the most recent firmware when paired with a appropriate iPhone or iPad, and might be obtainable this fall in additional than 100 nations and areas, together with the U.S., Germany, and Japan.

• The Listening to Safety characteristic is predicted to be obtainable in fall 2024 and can work with AirPods Professional 2 with the most recent firmware when paired with a appropriate iPhone, iPad, or Mac operating the most recent working system. The characteristic might be obtainable within the U.S. and Canada.

About Apple
Apple revolutionized private expertise with the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984. Right now, Apple leads the world in innovation with iPhone, iPad, Mac, AirPods, Apple Watch, and Apple Imaginative and prescient Professional. Apple’s six software program platforms — iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, visionOS, and tvOS — present seamless experiences throughout all Apple gadgets and empower individuals with breakthrough providers together with the App Retailer, Apple Music, Apple Pay, iCloud, and Apple TV+. Apple’s greater than 150,000 staff are devoted to creating one of the best merchandise on earth and to leaving the world higher than we discovered it.

1. The sleep apnea notification characteristic is pending FDA clearance and is predicted to be obtainable later this month. The characteristic might be supported on Apple Watch Sequence 9, Apple Watch Sequence 10, and Apple Watch Extremely 2. It’s meant to detect indicators of reasonable to extreme sleep apnea for individuals 18 years or older with no analysis of sleep apnea.
2. The Listening to Safety characteristic works with AirPods Professional 2 with the most recent firmware when paired with a appropriate iPhone, iPad, or Mac operating the most recent working system. The characteristic might be obtainable within the U.S. and Canada. See help.apple.com/120850 for complete attenuation and extra data.
3. The Listening to Take a look at and Listening to Assist options are anticipated to be obtainable fall 2024. The Listening to Assist characteristic is pending advertising authorization from the FDA and different international well being authorities. The Listening to Take a look at and Listening to Assist options might be supported on AirPods Professional 2 with the most recent firmware paired with a appropriate iPhone or iPad with iOS 18 or iPadOS 18 and later, and is meant for individuals 18 years or older. The Listening to Assist characteristic is meant for individuals with perceived gentle to reasonable listening to loss.

Press Contacts

Zaina Khachadourian

Apple

zkhachadourian@apple.com

Lance Lin

Apple

lance_lin@apple.com

Apple Media Helpline

media.assist@apple.com