watchOS 11: Best New Health Feature Has a Big Catch

watchOS 11, Apple’s upcoming operating system for Apple Watch, will deliver upgrades to the Health app but the most impressive change won’t come to older models.

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, watchOS 11’s Health app will include improved blood pressure data management. This means users will be able to get blood pressure readings directly on the watch.

Unfortunately, this change won’t come to older models. Gurman says the change will be limited to future Apple Watch models with hypertension detection.

Rumors suggest the upcoming Apple Watch 10 will have a blood pressure sensor. The device is expected to launch alongside the new iPhone 16 series in September.

In November, Gurman outlined the change. He says the first iteration of the sensor will “tell a user if their blood pressure is trending upward” and “offer a journal for the user to jot down what was happening when hypertension occurred.”

In order to avoid giving a misdiagnosis, the feature will direct Apple Watch users to talk to a doctor or check their blood pressure with a traditional cuff which can provide exact systolic and diastolic measurements.

Given that we’re still months away from the Apple Watch 10’s debut, it’s unclear how much Apple will share about these features during its WWDC 2024 keynote on June 10th.