The Apple Watch repeatedly saves lives around the world, thanks to its health monitoring features and emergency functions.
Here’s a comprehensive roundup of some of the most notable ways Apple Watch has saved people’s lives. From fit teenagers with undiagnosed health problems to car crash victims in danger of drowning, Apple’s smartwatch helps people cheat death in remarkable ways.
April 24, 2015: The original Apple Watch launch means consumers, who endured a seven-month wait after the device’s unveiling at a keynote the previous September, can finally strap an Apple wearable onto their wrists.
Apple CEO Tim Cook describes the smartwatch as the “next chapter in Apple history.” Behind the scenes, however, the first Apple Watch launch is a moment long in the making.
For the 10th anniversary of its launch, we compiled over a decade of Apple Watch history into a quick timeline. Starting with the original three collections — including models in solid 18 karat gold — all the way to today’s far more advanced (and sensible) Apple Watch Series 10 and Ultra 2.
The Apple Watch was the first major product introduction of Tim Cook’s reign as Apple CEO. There was immense pressure on Apple to prove that it could still innovate without Steve Jobs. While the Apple Watch wasn’t as flashy as the iPhone and iPad, it’s grown into an incredible business rife with breakthrough technology, in one of the most physically constrained form factors yet.
With Global Close Your Rings Day upon us, Apple Watch owners around the world showed off the pins they earned Thursday by participating in Apple’s fitness-oriented special event. The day marks a decade of Apple Watch Activity rings helping keep users active for their health.
“Apple Watch has changed the way people think about, monitor and engage with their fitness and health,” said Jeff Williams, Apple’s chief operating officer, in a press release Monday announcing the event. “A decade ago, we introduced Activity rings — and since then, Apple Watch has grown to offer an extensive set of features designed to empower every user. People write to us almost every day sharing how Apple Watch has made a difference in their life, from motivating them to move more throughout the day, to changing the trajectory of their health.”
Apple Watch does so much that it’s possible for some of its handy tricks to get lost. You can’t call these three Apple Watch tips marquee features. But they can make life just a bit more convenient.
Here’s how to turn on the flashlight, find your iPhone and silence alarms on your iPhone from an Apple Watch.
It’s time to break the habit of doing everything on your iPhone while overlooking what’s often a better alternative. Consider the Apple Watch pros: It’s a very capable little computer, and it’s right there on your wrist. Odds are you aren‘t taking advantage of half of what it can do for you.
Here are the simple tasks I used to do on my iPhone that are now easier because I do them on my Apple Watch. And all without needing any third-party software. The only apps required come preinstalled on every Apple Watch.
Closing your three Apple Watch Activity rings can become such an obsession that it’s easy to forget why you’re doing it. But what does it really mean to close an Apple Watch ring? The Stand ring seems obvious. We all know we shouldn’t sit around on our asses all day. But how about the Move and Exercise rings, which sound so similar?
Actually, no. The Apple Watch’s Move and Exercise rings are very different, and understanding that difference is massively important if you want to achieve your fitness goals.
Odds are, you’re not taking advantage of all the useful things your Apple Watch can do for you. That’s because we all tend to grab our iPhone, even when it’s not the best option. I started using my smartwatch much more after I began asking myself one simple question whenever I grab my iPhone: “Would this be easier on my Apple Watch?”
You should try it, too.
In a harrowing incident off the coast of Australia, an experienced swimmer’s routine morning body surfing session turned potentially deadly after riptides took him out to sea. Fortunately, 49-year-old Rick Shearman remembered the SOS feature on his Apple Watch Ultra. Using it led to a dramatic helicopter rescue that saved his life on July 13, 2024.
Update: Apple Australia’s YouTube channel posted a new video Thursday, below, dramatizing Shearman’s rescue. It recreates his desperate SOS call, his struggles amid huge swells and the dramatic relief when the rescue helicopter appears overhead. The video only lasts a minute, but by the end, with music swelling, it might bring you to tears.
We hear plenty of stories about Apple Watch saving lives, but they rarely if ever involve cancer — until now. According to news from down under, Apple Watch’s persistent alerts about an elevated heart rate helped save a New Zealand psychiatrist’s life, leading to a diagnosis of acute myeloid leukemia just hours before potential organ failure.
Apple Watch users can now install watchOS 11.4, an update that improves wake-up alarms and makes a few other tweaks.
Apple announced on Monday that the update was available, but didn’t actually release it until Tuesday.
Amazon is famous for its Prime Day and Black Friday deals, but it also runs the Amazon Big Spring Sale, on now. It ends Monday, March 31, unless extended. That wouldn’t be too surprising, given that the mega retailer often extends its sales. So it’s another chance for you to score savings on all sorts of Apple gear, including MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, iPad Pro, iPad Air, Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 2 and more. Click on our posts to all the best deals, below.
Apple and the National Hockey League forged a partnership that puts Apple Watch at the center of game officiating, according to reports Friday. The collaboration introduced a custom-built NHL Watch Comms app designed specifically to assist on-ice officials during games, and it will see its first outdoor use Saturday.
“We wanted to make sure that the officials had really good awareness and were able to keep their eyes on play,” explains Andres de Corral, vice president of digital services at Presidio, the technology firm that developed the app. “So by enabling haptic responses, we were able to provide non-visual cues to the officials.”
Apple’s comprehensive new health study, its largest yet, investigates how its mobile devices and other technology can improve users’ physical and mental well-being, the iPhone giant said Wednesday. The Apple Health Study, now available through the just-updated Research app, comes in collaboration with Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate.
“We’ve only just begun to scratch the surface of how technology can improve our understanding of human health,” said cardiologist and Harvard Medical School professor Calum MacRae, M.D., Ph.D., the study’s principal investigator. “We are excited to be part of the Apple Health Study, as it will continue to explore connections across different areas of health using technology that so many people carry with them every day.”
Find My iPhone, a feature available in Apple’s Find My app, will help you locate your lost phone. You can find it using any other Apple device you own or by borrowing a friend’s device. You can even ping your iPhone from your Apple Watch.
From Find My, you can also remotely lock down your lost iPhone, put the device into a special Lost Mode, or even wipe its contents. You should take a peek at this incredibly useful app before you have to.
Keep reading or watch our video.
You can use your iPhone (or even your Apple Watch!) as a remote for your Apple TV. It’s a convenient feature when you’ve lost the remote in the couch cushions. (You can use your iPhone to help find it as well.)
Even if your remote’s not gone missing, sometimes it’s sitting on the table way over there and you don’t want to interrupt a show by asking for someone to pass it to you. Or maybe, someone is intentionally hogging the remote and you want to pause the video yourself. Either way, it’s really easy to do from an iPhone or an Apple Watch.
We went through Apple CEO Tim Cook’s earnings call with investors on Thursday, and found some genuine surprises during the discussion of the financial results of the holiday 2024 quarter. We also turned up impressive figures showing just how well the company is doing.
Financial details don’t have to be boring. Here are the high points from the call as quickly and as interesting as we can make them.
Noise on Super Bowl Sunday (February 9 this year) increases throughout the United States, almost everywhere, according to new Apple Hearing Study research findings this week from Apple and the University of Michigan.
The findings highlight the importance of being mindful about noise exposure during major sporting events, even when watching from home. Even those not at the big game get exposed to higher levels of noise, often for several hours, and all the more so at boisterous public viewings in bars or at parties. And that could factor into hearing loss for some, researchers indicated.
For Apple users seeking a high-capacity portable power solution for all their gear, the new CukTech 30 Power Bank packs a massive 40,000mAh battery, combined charging power of up to 300 watts for up to five devices at once and some useful features, the company said Wednesday.
January 21, 2015: Months before the first Apple Watch goes on sale, users get a glimpse at what playing games might look like on the smartwatch. Thanks to Apple making the WatchKit API available to third parties, game developer NimbleBit releases a mockup of Letterpad, its simple, work-in-progess word game.
Suddenly, we get a peculiar desire to play games on our wrist that we haven’t had since the days of the Nintendo Game & Watch three decades earlier.
The plastic used to make the casing for the upcoming Apple Watch SE 3 will be taken from the ocean, making it environmentally friendly, according to a tipster.
The next-gen smartwatch will supposedly be more colorful so it’ll appeal more to an important demographic.
Like Apple’s rumored smart home hub, the refreshed Apple Watch SE might not launch as soon as initially expected. A new report says the Apple Watch SE 3 will debut in the second half of 2025.
Apple supposedly will give its cheapest smartwatch a big redesign this year, launching it with a totally new look.
2025 should be an Ultra year for the Apple Watch. In an unusual move, Apple only launched the Apple Watch Series 10 this year. It kept the Ultra 2 around, only releasing a new black titanium colorway. If you’re curious about the latest Apple Watch rumors, there’s plenty of speculation about what’s coming next.
But next year won’t be all about Apple’s most expensive smartwatch. For more budget-conscious customers, the third-gen Apple Watch SE should arrive in 2025.
How do you set up a new Apple Watch? Whether you got the Series 10 with its thin design and advanced sensors or leapt for the rugged Apple Watch Ultra 2, you might be wondering how to get started. After all, the Watch is unlike any other Apple device, both in its dependence on an iPhone and in the way it works.
The good thing is, Apple has made it really, really easy to get things up and running. Let’s take a look.
The PowerBand is a sporty Apple Watch band that comes with a built-in magnetic Apple Watch charger. The clever design will help you deal with two of the smartwatch’s most annoying shortcomings: its so-so battery life and the fact that you can only top up the Apple Watch battery using a specific type of charger.
Right now, you can snag a PowerBand for only $39.99 (regularly $49.99). That’s less than the cost of many Apple Watch bands that don’t come with a secret charger built in.