W hen the latest Apple Watch models were unveiled last month, the announcement of longer battery life, a bigger display and satellite connectivity for Apple Watch Ultra 3 were eye-catching. But it was a new health feature that was the real draw: notifications for hypertension , that is, high blood pressure .

Apple has placed health and the heart at the forefront for its Watch for years, with ECG readings and blood oxygen measurements among recent highlights.

Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice president of health, spoke to The Independent soon after the announcement to explain the new feature and the thinking behind it.

“We’ve been wanting to work on hypertension for many years, to be candid. Hypertension affects more than a billion people worldwide, but less than half those cases are

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