July 11, 2026, 10:02 am | Read time: 3 minutes
Over the past few years, Apple has gradually expanded the health features of the Apple Watch. The smartwatch can monitor heart rate, detect unusually high or low heart rates, create an ECG, and send an emergency SOS after a fall.
A report suggests that Apple intends to further enhance its health features. This time, the focus is on blood pressure detection. The Apple Watch Ultra 4 could receive an updated version of this feature. However, the exact innovations planned are not yet known. It is clear that Apple is continuing to work on analyzing existing sensor data to improve indications of potential health issues.
Blood Pressure Detection to Be Further Developed
According to the industry service “Digitimes,” Apple is working on a more refined blood pressure detection for the Apple Watch Ultra 4. Unlike a traditional blood pressure monitor, the smartwatch will continue to operate without a cuff. Instead, the optical heart sensor will capture how blood vessels respond to individual heartbeats. If the system detects unusual patterns, the watch could alert users to a potential risk.
Reports about the new feature align with earlier indications of extensive hardware changes. Last year, there was talk of a revised model. According to supplier circles, Apple plans to make adjustments to the exterior of the smartwatch and rearrange the sensors on its back. The report suggests that eight sensors will be arranged in a ring shape. This area is crucial for many of the Apple Watch’s health functions.
Differences from the Current Function Remain Unclear
Apple already offers so-called hypertension alerts. This feature also uses the optical heart sensor but does not measure a single blood pressure value like a conventional blood pressure monitor. Instead, the Apple Watch observes how blood vessels respond to heartbeats over a 30-day period. Based on this data, it can indicate potential signs of high blood pressure, allowing users to have their values checked more precisely if needed.
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How this newly described function will differ from the current one is not clear from the report. It is conceivable that changes could be detected more quickly, alerts could be more precisely categorized, or additional health data could be included in the analysis. However, the report does not provide specific technical details. It only mentions a more refined or clinically validated implementation.
Whether Apple will actually introduce this feature with the Apple Watch Ultra 4 will likely become clear in fall 2026. At that time, the Apple Watch Series 12, the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone 18 Pro Max, and Apple’s first foldable iPhone, rumored to be called the “iPhone Ultra,” are also expected.