Can Apple Watch detect sleep apnoea?

Sleep apnoea is a condition that causes you to stop and start breathing repeatedly, interrupting a good night’s rest. Obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), the most prevalent type of sleep apnoea, affects nearly 1 billion people worldwide.¹ It’s a disorder in which the muscles in the throat relax to the point of collapse, restricting your airflow. Breathing can become shallow and may stop for seconds or minutes at a time before your body’s defences jolt you awake to resume breathing.²

Sleep apnoea can leave you feeling tired and drained the next morning. If left untreated, it can lead to several serious health risks, including high blood pressure and elevated blood sugar levels–all factors that can contribute to heart disease, diabetes and stroke.³ How well you sleep at night plays a big part in how much energy you have during the day. Sleep health is the quality of your sleep and its impact on your overall well-being.

Today, wearable technology is making it easier to monitor your sleep health. From using your Apple Watch’s app to identify breathing disturbances to exploring other medical devices that detect sleep apnoea, we’ll show you how technology can help you take control of your health and get back to living with more energy.

The Apple Watch received FDA clearance in 2024 for its sleep apnea notification feature, marking an important first step toward establishing wearable devices as tools for sleep apnoea detection, even though they are not intended to provide a medical diagnosis.⁴ Since 2024, this feature has been expanded to more than 150 countries, including the United States (FDA-cleared), as well as France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, where it is available in compliance with local regulatory requirements (e.g., CE marking in Europe), but without a country-specific diagnostic medical authorization equivalent to the FDA clearance.⁴

How does the Apple Watch track your sleep?

If you wear your Apple Watch to bed, this handy device can give you helpful insights into your sleeping habits. The Sleep app on your Apple Watch can help you analyse your personal sleep trends. By tracking data over a 30-day period, your device can help you get a better pulse on what’s keeping you awake at night– and receive a notification if it is suggestive of sleep apnoea.

Sleep monitoring features on the Apple Watch

Your Apple Watch has several features designed to help you better understand what goes on with your body while you sleep. These features include:

Heart rate variability (HRV)

Located under the Health app on your Apple device, the HRV feature measures time between heartbeats. Your heartbeat tempo can change due to a variety of factors, such as smoking, alcohol use and stress.⁵ Age and lifestyle factors also play a role in determining a “good” HRV vs. a “bad” HRV. A higher HRV is a sign of better health, greater resilience and good stress recovery.⁶

Sleep stages and duration

The Sleep app on your Apple Watch can track time spent in each of the three sleep stages. These three stages⁷ are:

1. Core sleep (or light sleep) – That drifting-off phase when your body starts to relax.
2. Deep sleep – Where true recovery happens: muscle repair, immune boosting and memory consolidation.
3. REM sleep –Dream time that’s crucial for memory and learning.⁸

This app can help you see how much sleep you got and the amount of time spent in each stage of rest.

Breathing disturbances

Apple has a Health app feature that tracks breathing disturbances that might indicate sleep apnoea. The Breathing Disturbances metric tracks your respiratory rate and patterns while you sleep, collecting data over a 30-day period. If the app detects consistent disruptions to your nighttime breathing, it will notify you that you may have signs of possible sleep apnoea.

How these features relate to sleep apnoea detection

These features work together to help you better understand your sleeping habits and prompt you to take action if you might have sleep apnoea. If you notice consistent patterns like low blood oxygen levels, sudden spikes in heart rate, and a lack of deep or REM sleep, these can be potential warning signs of sleep apnoea.

How to set up Sleep Apnoea Detection on your Apple Watch

Your Apple Watch (Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Apple Watch Ultra 2, or Apple Watch SE 3) has a feature designed specifically to detect signs of possible sleep apnoea. Here’s how to set up Sleep Apnoea Detection. Refer to Apple for further instructions:

• Step 1: Update your Apple Watch with the latest version of watchOS.
• Step 2: Update your iPhone to the latest version of iOS.
• Step 3: Open the Health app on your iPhone.
• Step 4: Tap Search, then tap Respiratory.
• Step 5: Under Sleep Apnoea Notifications, tap Set Up, then tap Next.
• Step 6: Confirm your Date of Birth and if you’ve ever been diagnosed with sleep apnoea, then tap Continue.
• Step 7: Tap Next, then tap Done.

Can the Apple Watch diagnose sleep apnoea?

Your Apple Watch can’t give you a definite sleep apnoea diagnosis, but it can notify you to unusual sleep patterns and warning signs that may indicate a problem. If you see consistent, negative patterns in your sleep schedule, it’s time to visit your doctor and take the next steps toward better sleep health. Your doctor can confirm a sleep apnoea diagnosis so you can get the help you need to sleep better–and live better.

Benefits of Apple Watch sleep apnoea detection

Your Apple Watch can be a helpful tool that empowers you to stay on top of your health and uncover the truth behind your sleeping patterns. While it’s not a replacement for a doctor’s diagnosis, it can give you valuable insights that prompt you to check with a medical professional who can confirm if you have sleep apnoea.

Early warning signs

Many people don’t realise they have sleep apnoea because the signs–like snoring, gasping for air, or poor quality sleep–happen while they’re sleeping. Your Apple Watch can track changes in your breathing that may indicate a deeper health problem. Features like Breathing Disturbances can notify you if your sleeping patterns (and disturbances) are consistent with sleep apnoea.

While your Apple Watch can’t formally diagnose you, it can give you actionable data to share with your doctor. Paying attention to these signs earlier can make a big difference in your sleep health and overall quality of life. When left untreated, sleep apnoea can contribute to serious health problems like high blood pressure and heart disease.³

Integration with other health data

Using your Apple Watch to track sleeping habits connects that data to other health-related features you use. Sleep apnoea affects more than just your sleep. It can also impact your:

• Heart health
• Energy levels
• Mood
• Ability to focus
• Relationships

Using your Apple Watch you can connect data about your sleep habits to other health-related features. This can help give you a more complete picture of how your sleep is impacting your overall well-being and help you spot concerning health trends. With more data about your health at your fingertips, you can have an informed conversation with your doctor.

Limitations of the Apple Watch in detecting sleep apnoea

Although your Apple Watch can track your sleeping and breathing patterns, it can’t give you a professional diagnosis of sleep apnoea. Polysomnographies (sleep studies) use specialised equipment to measure brain activity, oxygen levels, breathing patterns and more. Even the most sophisticated smartwatch is unable to provide that level of detail to confirm a sleep apnoea diagnosis.

While the Apple Watch’s new Breathing Disturbances feature is a noteworthy evolution in collecting data to aid a formal sleep apnoea diagnosis, it should only be used as a screening tool and not a substitute for a sleep test.

Your smartwatch’s readings can be affected by how it fits, if you move around in your sleep, and even factors like stress and alcohol consumption. This can impact the accuracy of your data. If your Apple Watch notifies you may have signs of possible sleep apnoea, it’s important to follow up with your doctor and get tested.

Apple Watch vs Diagnostic Sleep Apnoea Solutions

While both the Apple Watch and diagnostic sleep apnoea solutions can put you on a path to confirming a diagnosis, there are several key differences between the two options. Your Apple Watch can offer helpful insights into your sleeping patterns, however, diagnostic options are specially designed to diagnose sleep apnoea. Understanding how these options differ in terms of accuracy, cost and use cases can help you decide which is best for your needs.

Comparing features and accuracy

When you wear your Apple Watch to bed, it gathers relevant sleep-related data like heart rate variability (HRV), blood oxygen levels, breathing disturbances, and sleep duration. This makes it a convenient way to monitor sleep trends and pinpoint potential issues. However, the Apple Watch ‘is not designed to diagnose sleep apnoea, it only gives your warning signs while profesionnal testing is done to have a diagnosis.

By contrast, at-home sleep tests and in-lab sleep studies are offered through medical providers as a trusted way to confirm a sleep apnoea diagnosis. For instance, at-home sleep test equipment is designed to be compact, easy-to-use and provide accurate results.

At-home sleep tests can even differentiate between different types of sleep apnoea, such as obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) and central sleep apnoea (CSA).

Unlike the Apple Watch that uses sensors that can shift during sleep depending on how you move your wrist, equipment for home sleep tests can capture detailed sleep and breathing pattern data regardless of sleep position. Some home sleep test devices generate reports that help your doctor make an accurate diagnosis.

At-home sleep tests provide aid to physicians to diagnose sleep apnoea, but they also require guidance and approval from a healthcare provider. If your Apple Watch detects sleep disturbances, follow-up with your doctor. Together, you can determine if a home sleep test is the right next step for you.

Use case differences

If you’re worried about your sleeping patterns, an Apple Watch can be a helpful tool. It’s easy to use and can help you notice patterns like waking up frequently throughout the night, breathing disturbances or low oxygen levels. This makes your smartwatch a great first step in better understanding your sleep health.

However, if you strongly suspect you have sleep apnoea or have symptoms like consistent daytime tiredness, loud snoring or waking up gasping for air, you’ll need a professional diagnosis. A doctor-recommended sleep test, whether it’s at home or in a lab–is the only sure way to confirm you have sleep apnoea and put you on a path to treating it.

Steps to take if you suspect sleep apnoea

If you think you may have sleep apnoea, take the next step and talk to your doctor. They can help you determine if you need further testing and recommend a reliable diagnostic option, such as an at-home sleep study. Your medical provider’s team can also help you learn more about what your insurance plan covers to reduce out-of-pocket costs. A visit with your doctor today can save you from months of worries and sleepless nights later.

Concerned about your sleep health?

If you wake up exhausted after a full night’s rest or you find yourself gasping awake, you may have sleep apnoea. By taking our sleep assessment you might understand common sleep apnoea symptoms and know where to look for help. Are you ready?

This blog post contains general information about medical conditions and treatments. It is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. The information is not advice, and should not be treated as such. You must not rely on the information on this website as an alternative to medical advice from your doctor or other professional healthcare provider.

If you have any specific questions about any medical matter, you should consult your doctor or other professional healthcare provider. If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition, you should seek immediate medical attention. You should never delay seeking medical advice, disregard medical advice, or discontinue medical treatment because of information on this website. The views expressed on this blog and website have no relation to those of any academic, hospital, practice, or other institution with which the authors are affiliated and do not directly reflect the views of Resmed or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates.

Resources:

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