At its "Far Out" event, Apple officially lifted the covers off the highly-anticipated Apple Watch Series 8. While the new smartwatch doesn't bring a radically new design, it does bring some interesting new health and safety features. One such feature is Crash Detection.

As the name implies, the Crash Detection feature can detect if you're in a severe car crash and notify emergency services and your emergency contacts. Apple developed two new motion sensors to accurately detect the unique forces of a car crash.

The new high G-force accelerometer samples data four times faster than the previous model and is capable of measuring up to 256g of force. Apple also built a fusion algorithm that's trained on car accident data. In addition to motion sensors, Crash Detection also uses a barometer, GPS, and the microphone on your iPhone to detect patterns of a severe crash.

When the watch detects a crash, it will check in with the user; if the user fails to respond within the 10-second window, it will automatically notify emergency services. The feature only runs when you're driving. Apple says all data is processed on your device locally.

The Crash Detection feature isn't exclusive to the new Apple Watch lineup. It's also available on the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone Pro Max. Notably, Google's Pixel phones have had the car crash detection feature for some time now.

The Apple Watch Series 8 brings several notable upgrades, including a large Always-On display, a new temperature sensor that enables advanced features for women's health, and a new Low Power mode that can extend the battery to up to 36 hours.

Alongside the Series 8 and Watch Pro, Apple also announced the updated Apple Watch SE 2, which brings a 30% larger display, a 20% faster chipset, new watch faces, and new health and wellness features.