At a time when most tech giants are coming up with new gimmicks to make AI look cool, Apple is leveraging its advanced artificial intelligence capabilities to turn the Apple Watch into a critical public health tool. CEO Tim Cook announced plans to notify over one million Apple Watch users about potential hypertension, or chronic high blood pressure.
During the company’s Q4 2025 earnings call, Cook highlighted the groundbreaking hypertension notifications feature, which is rolling out across the newer generations of the Apple Watch lineup, including the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 11, Watch Ultra 2, and Ultra 3.
The feature is termed crucial by health experts because high blood pressure is often called a “silent condition,” frequently remaining undiagnosed due to a lack of symptoms. The Apple Watch’s notification system uses large-scale machine learning models and data from the optical heart sensor to analyse how a user’s blood vessels respond to heartbeats. The algorithm works passively in the background, reviewing heart data over 30-day periods, and alerts the user if it detects consistent signs of hypertension.
Apple Watch will now notify of hypertension
“Hypertension is one of the leading risk factors for heart attack and stroke, affecting more than one billion adults worldwide, and we expect to notify more than 1 million users of this life-threatening condition,” Tim Cook stated.
Cook also emphasized that AI and advanced machine learning are now central to the Apple Watch’s health ecosystem, powering features like fall detection, crash detection, and heart rate monitoring.
In addition to the high-impact health alerts, the new Apple Watch lineup also introduces a “sleep score,” a new metric designed to help users better understand and improve their sleep quality.
The CEO also shared the financial success of the non-iPhone and Mac segment, revealing that the Wearables, Home, and Accessories division, which includes the Apple Watch, generated $9 billion in revenue. Cook concluded by praising the new devices, including the Apple Watch Ultra 3, which features the largest display and improved battery life, and the Apple Watch Series 11, which offers the most comprehensive set of health features yet.
iPhone 17 has done well for Apple
On the other hand, the iPhone 17 series has demonstrated significant commercial success since its launch, with sales exceeding many initial forecasts and driving Apple to an all-time high financial milestone. The base iPhone 17 model and the iPhone 17 Pro Max have seen unexpectedly robust demand, with early sales data showing that the iPhone 17 lineup outselling its predecessor, the iPhone 16 series, by a notable margin in key markets like the US, India, and China.
The standard iPhone 17, with its enhanced features like a better display and camera for the same price as the previous model, became a surprise hit, particularly in price-sensitive regions like China and India. This strong demand has led Apple to increase production for the most popular models to meet the ballooning consumer interest, even while navigating supply constraints.
