Longevity & AgingApple Watch Aging Clock Predicts Heart Disease Risk from Your Wrist
Scientists at Apple developed PpgAge, an aging clock built from photoplethysmography (PPG) waveforms captured passively by Apple Watch. Using data from over 213,000 participants in the Apple Heart & Movement Study across 149 million participant-days, the model predicts chronological age with a mean absolute error of just 2.43 years in healthy individuals. Critically, the 'PpgAge gap'—the difference between predicted and actual age—strongly associates with heart disease, heart failure, and diabetes diagnoses, and predicts new cardiac events even after controlling for standard risk factors. The clock also reflects behavioral factors like sleep, exercise, and smoking, and captures physiological changes during pregnancy and cardiac events longitudinally.
