Apple Watch sleep apnoea detection now available in Australia

Apple has rolled out sleep apnoea detection to Apple Watch users in Australia, following TGA approval at the end of May. 

The feature looks for breathing disturbances while an Apple Watch wearer is sleeping, and then provides a notification if possible sleep apnoea is detected. This data is analysed every 30 days, and the tech requires a minimum of 10 nights of sleep data within this window. 

To get sleep apnoea notifications, users need an Apple Watch Series 9 or Series 10, or an Apple Watch Ultra 2. Both the watch and the iPhone should be running the latest versions of their respective operating system. If they're already up to date, the functionality should activated overnight; a manual software update isn't needed.

Sleep apnoea notifications can then be turned on via the Health app on iPhone. You can find these by tapping "Browse" then "Respiratory". 

Apple says the sleep apnoea notifications aren't intended to diagnose sleep apnoea, and if a user is warned, the notification suggests seeing a doctor. The Health app provides a PDF that can be exported with the breathing disturbance history. 

Not all breathing disturbances are necessarily a sign of sleep apnoea. They can also be caused by illnesses like a cold or flu, or other factors like alcohol consumption.

Alex Choros

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Alex Choros is the Managing Editor of WhistleOut Australia and an award-winning journalist. He's been writing about consumer technology for over a decade and is an expert on the Australian telco sector, to the point where he knows far too many phone and internet plans by heart. In addition to leading the WhistleOut editorial team, Alex is responsible for ruining the office Sonos with his troubled taste in music.

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