Apple Watch has become more and more powerful in terms of health functions in recent years, ranging from heart rate detection, electrocardiogram, blood oxygen concentration, to sleep apnea detection. Not only that, when Apple released Apple Watch Series 11 and Ultra 3 in September last year, it also launched a new feature that many people like: “High Blood Pressure Notification”, which uses the sensor on the watch to detect whether there are signs of high blood pressure.
However, this function was only available in a few countries such as the United States at first. Later, although it was gradually expanded to more countries, such as Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc., Taiwan was not included. The good news is that relevant news finally appeared a few days ago. This functionAlmostTaiwan officially opens today.
Apple Watch high blood pressure notification will be available in Taiwan soon! See operation methods, supported models and usage restrictions at once
according toTaiwan Food and Drug Administration (TFDA), Ministry of Health and WelfareAccording to public information, Apple’s high blood pressure notification function has officially obtained a “Second Level Medical Device” license on February 26, 2026. The official name is “Apple Hypertension Notification Function Software”, and the manufacturer is Apple Inc.:
In other words, the regulatory hurdle has been passed, and now the last step is left. Apple can open up the use rights in Taiwan through system updates of iOS and watchOS at any time. It is speculated that it may be opened around May this year at the earliest, but the exact time is still subject to Apple’s official announcement.
Regarding the Apple Watch high blood pressure notification, many people may not know how it works. First of all, you must know that this function does not allow you to measure blood pressure instantly. It does not display systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers like a traditional blood pressure monitor. It functions more like a long-term screening mechanism to help you detect signs of chronic hypertension.
The working principle is roughly like this. The optical heart rate sensor on the back of Apple Watch will continuously collect data and analyze the way your blood vessels respond to each heartbeat, which is called “pulse wave analysis.” It observes the speed and waveform changes of blood as it passes through the blood vessels, and finds patterns that may be related to high blood pressure from these data.
This entire process is passive, which means you don’t need to manually start any measurements, just wear the watch normally.
But there is an important point. After setting, the watch will first enter a 30-day evaluation period, allowing the system to continuously collect and analyze your data and establish your cardiovascular baseline data. No notifications will be sent during this period, and you will not be alerted until the 30 days are complete if signs of possible high blood pressure are detected.
According to Apple’s data, this algorithm has a correct identification rate of about 40% among adults with true hypertension, and more than 50% among those with second-stage hypertension. Among people without hypertension, the misdiagnosis rate was about 8%.
Of course, receiving a notification does not mean that you actually have high blood pressure. Apple’s official recommendation is that if you receive a notification, you should first use a traditional blood pressure monitor to measure your blood pressure for seven consecutive days, record the results and take them to your doctor, so that medical professionals can make the final judgment.
Not all Apple Watches support this feature. The currently confirmed models that can be used are as follows:
- Apple Watch Series 9
- Apple Watch Series 10
- Apple Watch Series 11
- Apple Watch Ultra 2
- Apple Watch Ultra 3
The watch also needs to be paired with an iPhone 11 or newer model and updated to the latest versions of iOS and watchOS to use it.
Source: KOCPC Chinese