Which Apple Watches Have Fall Detection

If you’re thinking of using an Apple Watch as a fall-detection device, here are some things to consider. Many of the Apple Watch versions can be enabled with fall detection, including the Apple Watch SE, Apple Watch Series 4 and later, and Apple Watch Ultra and later. But in brief, what are the pros and cons of using the Apple Watch as a device to detect a fall that the user has taken?

As with all Apple products, its smartwatch is a sleek piece of work, not greatly larger than a traditional timepiece – and with so many smartwatches appearing on wrists nowadays, the size increase is becoming more of a norm. All of this means that an elderly or frail person who wants fall detection in a wearable device may opt for the wrist-worn smartwatch as the least conspicuous means of protection, compared with the pendant or clip-on alert device.

That said, with other brands of dedicated smartwatches available with fall detection or response, does the Apple Watch make the best sense for you? The short answer is that if you’re going to use an Apple Watch anyway, for its primary features as an extension of your smartphone, and as a powerful and networked computer on your wrist, this is perhaps the only compelling reason to use the Apple Watch for fall detection. But even then, you should look at the following considerations to ask how useful will its fall detection actually be in practical usage, compared with a dedicated alert device?

Photo Source by Luke Chesser, licensed under Unsplash

Wearable All the Time?

As we know, 1 in 4 seniors in America experience a fall each year, and this has been the principal driver of medical alert system progress. Automatic fall detection and sending an alert to a response team has been the supreme goal. Compared with the pendant around your neck, the wrist-worn device has posed the greatest challenges because the random motion of the arm is so much more extreme than the torso.

False alarms are a big concern with fall detection, which is why the medical alert industry has shied away from smartwatches with automatic fall detection. Our own medical alert smartwatch does have automatic fall detection, which we are proud of, and which is widely reviewed as reliable. Automatic fall detection was largely pioneered by Apple, but as of 2023, the Apple system was still giving numerous false alerts to emergency centers – see this New York Times report.

Perhaps the biggest caution with any smartwatch is whether the user will wear it at all times. Smartwatches and pendants developed specifically for medical alerts are made water resistant, and designed to be worn in the shower – one of the more treacherous places to slip and fall. The key feature of any accident or emergency is that they are unexpected: the only way to guard against them is to be protected at all times.

Another drawback is the lack of dedicated monitoring center. Apple doesn’t connect with its own monitoring center, although this service can now be added through a third party. Unmonitored alert devices have two great detriments: one is that the trained operators of a medical alert monitoring center can immediately determine if the alert is a false alarm or one that needs to be forwarded to first responders in the area. The second detriment is that even with a GPS-enabled device, if the system is unmonitored, not all local emergency centers in the country are able to detect automatically where the alert is coming from  – by contrast, this is precisely what a dedicated monitoring center is wired into, knowing exactly where the user is when the alert comes in.

Typically the Apple Watch requires  to be paired with an iPhone to work, although this can be changed with the family sharing plan – note that some of the medical apps are not available under this plan. Also, currently GPS is not available without pairing with a phone. And given the complexity of the phone and watch, only a person familiar with the phone will feel comfortable setting up the watch. In short, it really takes a phone to use the watch.

As to complexity, the dedicated alert watches, even without automatic fall detection, all have a simplified face, with intuitive ways to set preferences and alerts, and very clear ways to initiate an alert and talk with an operator. Needless to say, the smartwatch based on a smartphone is a wonder of technology with an abundant array of features and options, but it’s complex. Complexity is not useful in an emergency.

The price difference is an obvious factor to consider with an Apple Watch, which retails at twice to three times the cost of a dedicated smartwatch with fall detection. And while the Apple product is undoubtedly superb at what it’s designed for, with its limitations around fall detection, is the price worth it? Does it make more sense to use a dedicated device as well – for example, the medical alert pendant at all times as well as a smartwatch, or just use a dedicated alert system watch? These are all things to consider when deciding if an Apple Watch will serve you or a loved one well for fall detection.