Can Apple Watch detect sleep apnea?

In short: no watch can diagnose sleep apnea, but recent Apple Watch models can notify you of signs of possible moderate to severe sleep apnea. The Watch measures breathing disturbances at night with its motion sensor, looks at them over 30-day periods, and sends a notification if the pattern is consistent with sleep apnea. If you get one, or if you snore loudly and wake up tired, talk to a doctor: sleep apnea is diagnosed with a sleep study.

What sleep apnea is

In obstructive sleep apnea, the airway repeatedly narrows or closes during sleep, so breathing becomes shallow or stops for a short time, then restarts, often with a snort or a gasp. It’s common, often undiagnosed, and treatable. Left untreated, it disturbs sleep night after night and is linked to daytime sleepiness and to heart and blood-pressure problems.

What Apple Watch measures

• Breathing disturbances. While you sleep, the Watch’s accelerometer picks up the tiny movements of your breathing, and counts interruptions to the normal pattern. The Health app shows a nightly value and marks it as elevated or not elevated.
• Sleep apnea notifications. On supported models, the Watch reviews your breathing disturbances over 30-day periods and notifies you if they show signs of possible moderate to severe sleep apnea. The feature is available on recent models (Apple Watch Series 9 and later, and Ultra 2 and later), for adults, in supported countries, and needs you to wear the Watch to bed regularly.

What a notification means, and what it doesn’t

• It’s a reason to see a doctor, not a diagnosis. The notification means the pattern your Watch saw is consistent with possible sleep apnea.
• No notification doesn’t rule it out. The feature is designed to catch moderate to severe cases; milder sleep apnea may not trigger it.
• It doesn’t replace a sleep study. Sleep apnea is diagnosed with an overnight test, either in a sleep lab or at home with equipment your doctor provides.

Symptoms to watch for, with or without a Watch

• Loud, frequent snoring.
• Pauses in breathing, or gasping and choking sounds, often noticed by a partner.
• Waking up tired, or feeling sleepy during the day despite enough time in bed.
• Morning headaches, a dry mouth, or trouble concentrating.

If several of these sound familiar, talk to a doctor, even if your Watch hasn’t said anything.

Bring what happened at night

A doctor will ask what your nights sound like. A partner’s account helps; a recording helps more. Recording a few nights before your appointment, especially the nights around a Watch notification, gives a concrete picture of the snoring, the pauses and the gasps.

How Sleep Talk Recorder & Snore helps

Sleep Talk Recorder & Snore is an iPhone and iPad app that records what happens at night and puts it next to your Apple Watch data.

• It hears what the Watch can’t. Snoring, gasps, coughs and breathing are labelled with Apple’s on-device sound classifier, and talking is recorded and transcribed.
• Breathing disturbances beside the sounds. The app reads your Watch’s breathing disturbances, heart rate and HRV from Apple Health and shows them next to what was heard. With Premium, it also shows which sounds your heart rate responded to.
• Nights your Watch flagged. If your Apple Watch sends a sleep apnea notification, Sleep Talk collects the recorded nights in that period, with the minutes of snoring and the gasps heard on each, so you can show them to a doctor.
• Share with your doctor. Export a night summary, a transcript or the audio of a clip yourself; nothing is uploaded otherwise.

Sleep Talk doesn’t diagnose sleep apnea. Your Watch’s notification and these recordings are something to show a doctor.

Common questions