Technologies

FDA Clears the Apple Watch for Hypertension Alerts

The Apple Watch Series 9 and newer and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and later get the tool next week.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday cleared a new hypertension detection tool for the Apple Watch. The health feature was one of the highlights at Apple’s September iPhone event and will alert Apple Watch owners of potential signs of high blood pressure, a dangerous condition that can lead to heart attack or stroke and goes undiagnosed in millions of people.

In addition to the FDA clearing Apple’s chronic high blood pressure tool, the Cupertino, California-based company announced that it will be available on its watches starting next week in 150 countries, including in the US, European Union, Hong Kong and New Zealand.

Hypertension alerts were unveiled as part of the announcements for Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. Many (including myself) assumed it would be exclusive to the newest high-end models. But Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer will support the new high blood pressure detector.

The features arrive at a time when wearable competitors like Oura, Google and Samsung are releasing more features aimed at health, wellness and preventative care. For example, the Galaxy Watch 8, which released earlier this summer, has a skin-based antioxidant index. But Apple’s hypertension tool isn’t the only new health addition to the company’s watches. There’s also a Sleep Score that grades the quality of your rest on a 0-100 scale.

Both these features will be coming with the WatchOS 26 update next week.

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Hypertension alerts

While it’s not the full blood pressure monitoring that many Apple Watch fans were hoping for, hypertension alerts use existing sensors to tackle a serious health concern: a potentially fatal, silent condition that many people don’t even realize they’re living with. Apple said the feature is expected to notify over 1 million people with undiagnosed hypertension within the first year.

Much like Apple’s irregular heart rhythm and sleep apnea notifications, hypertension alerts work in the background and don’t require any extra steps. After a 30-day analysis period, the watch will send an alert if it detects patterns consistent with high blood pressure. Apple is clear that this is not a diagnosis. The feature has been cleared by the FDA, but the goal is to provide an early warning that sparks a conversation with a physician.

If an alert does appear, the Apple Watch will recommend that you confirm the results with a traditional blood pressure cuff. All related data can be logged in the Health app on your iPhone and exported as a PDF for your doctor. That extra step cuts out the typical «wait and track» cycle often required after a doctor’s visit and instead lets you walk in with actionable data in hand.

The feature will be preloaded onto the new Series 11 and Ultra 3 and will be part of the WatchOS 26 update on Monday for the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 and Ultra 2.

Decoding Sleep Score

The Apple Watch has tracked sleep for years, measuring duration, sleep stages and overall consistency. But it stopped short of giving you an actual score like competitors like Samsung, Oura and Garmin do. That changes with Sleep Score.

Sleep Score takes your nightly data and assigns a rating from 0-100 (or from «low» to «excellent») based on three main criteria: duration, number of interruptions (such as kids or pets) and bedtime consistency — which Apple says is one of the biggest contributors to quality sleep.

The timing of this rollout is no accident. Apple has a track record of waiting until it has both the scientific backing and enough of its own data to justify launching a new health feature. Sleep Score uses new guidance from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, the National Sleep Foundation and the World Sleep Society. The algorithm itself was built and validated using over 5 million nights of sleep data from the ongoing Apple Heart and Movement Study.

Each morning, Apple Watch owners will see their score in the Sleep app on their iPhone, as a complication on their watch face or directly within the Health app. A deeper breakdown reveals how each of the three factors influenced your score, along with explanations of what went wrong (or right). For example, going to bed later than usual could dock points in the bedtime category and pull your overall score down. While it’s not directly prescriptive, the added context helps take the mystery out of what those numbers mean.

Even better, Sleep Score works retroactively. If you’ve been logging sleep for a while, past data will be automatically updated with scores once you install the new software.

Sleep Score will be available on the Apple Watch Series 6 and later, SE 2 and later, and all Ultra models when paired with an iPhone 11 or newer running iOS 26.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for March 15, #1730

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for March 15, No. 1,730.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a fairly common word, but the beginning letter is one I rarely guess. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with G.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with E.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a mark that a student receives in a class.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is GRADE.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, March 14, No. 1729, was ANKLE.

Recent Wordle answers

March 10, No. 1725: SHOAL

March 11, No. 1726: TEDDY

March 12, No. 1727: SMELL

March 13, No. 1728: EATEN

What’s the best Wordle starting word?

Don’t be afraid to use our tip sheet ranking all the letters in the alphabet by frequency of uses. In short, you want starter words that lean heavy on E, A and R, and don’t contain Z, J and Q.

Some solid starter words to try:

ADIEU

TRAIN

STARE

NOISE

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for March 15, #538

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for March 15, No. 538.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today is Selection Sunday, and the Connections: Sports Edition puzzle is all about the NCAA basketball tournament. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Oops!

Green group hint: Not the second word.

Blue group hint: They direct the team.

Purple group hint: They made it to the Big Dance.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Basketball fouls.

Green group: First words in NCAA tournament rounds.

Blue group: Women’s college basketball coaches.

Purple group: Teams qualified for the 2026 Men’s NCAA tournament.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is basketball fouls. The four answers are block, charge, hold and reach-in.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is first words in NCAA tournament rounds. The four answers are elite, final, second and sweet.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is women’s college basketball coaches. The four answers are Auriemma, Close, Ivey and Staley.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is teams qualified for the 2026 Men’s NCAA tournament. The four answers are Gonzaga, High Point, Queens and Troy.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Mini Crossword Answers for Sunday, March 15

Here are the answers for The New York Times Mini Crossword for March 15.

Looking for the most recent Mini Crossword answer? Click here for today’s Mini Crossword hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Wordle, Strands, Connections and Connections: Sports Edition puzzles.

Need some help with today’s Mini Crossword? Today’s wasn’t terribly tough, but read on for all the answers. And if you could use some hints and guidance for daily solving, check out our Mini Crossword tips.

If you’re looking for today’s Wordle, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands answers, you can visit CNET’s NYT puzzle hints page.

Read more: Tips and Tricks for Solving The New York Times Mini Crossword

Let’s get to those Mini Crossword clues and answers.