Ban on Apple watches with blood oxygen sensors confirmed after failed appeal

Apple will not be allowed to sell its latest watches containing blood oxygen sensors starting from Thursday, judges from the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ordered. The iGiant has been locked in an ongoing patent dispute with medical-device maker Masimo for years. Masimo claims that Apple sought info about its …

[Ron1]

Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 no longer include the blood oxygen feature.

"The ability to measure blood oxygen is no longer available on Apple Watch units sold by Apple in the United States after January 18, 2024. These are indicated with part numbers ending in LW/A."

The above is posted on Apple Watch Ultra 2 US site.

So there will be 2 versions of Ultra 2? The old ones oxygen sensor will still work? Did Apple reduce price due to advertised feature no longer working?

Will they have to disable it for older watches also?

Issue refunds to buyers?

This will be interesting to watch - no pun intended :-)

[DS999]

Re: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 no longer include the blood oxygen feature.

The ban was for imports, so people who bought ones previously will still have that function intact. It will just be people buying from now on that don't get it. For the small percentage of people who need that (asthmatics and the like) if they wanted one they can probably one on eBay. IIRC the patents in question expire in 2027 so Apple will have a few years of not offering that feature on newer watches unless there's a way to work around it.

They will presumably figure out some system where the ones already sold can keep the function, while the ones just getting sold will lose it - I guess watches activated after whatever date they restart sales will get a "don't enable blood oxygen" flag permanently set or something like that.

I actually just bought my first Apple Watch last month, mainly for the heart rate tracking while exercising (I would have got a fitbit if it wasn't tied to a Google account these days) but ended up getting an SE since it was cheaper. One of the things it didn't have the newer models did was the blood oxygen sensor. I figured I wouldn't miss it for what I was buying the watch for.

[John Robson]

Re: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 no longer include the blood oxygen feature.

"For the small percentage of people who need that (asthmatics and the like) if they wanted one they can probably one on eBay. IIRC the patents in question expire "

I just read that as patients expiring... which isn't the same thing *at all*.

I thought you'd gone really dark, really quickly.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 no longer include the blood oxygen feature.

$o are we going to see a new warning? "Your blood oxygen is deprecated and may be shut down soon without further notice. Blood oxygen is no longer supported by Apple. Please upgrade to a FitBit or higher."

Watching the blood oxygen "measurements" for years has suggested that it's an estimate, not a measurement. I see the current daily measurements as only about 60% accurate occasionally although they have the potential to be a little helpful.

[batt-geek]

it's a software mod - won't take long for someone to work out how to download the firmware (or whatever) from a fully functional watch and upload to the O2 crippled version...

[Lyndication]

I can only assume that if you have a linked iPhone, as most do, it checks the SW version and forces an update anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

Opportunity for people to personally export to the US ?

Or will USians be banned from buying from outside the US ?

Will Apple be fined for supporting non-US bought watches ?

Watch this space/

[katrinab]

Re: Opportunity for people to personally export to the US ?

You are banned from importing such a watch into the US.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Opportunity for people to personally export to the US ?

Purchase watch whilst abroad, set it up and put on wrist, destroy packaging and receipt, travel back to US with fully operational watch on wrist…

[katrinab]

Re: Opportunity for people to personally export to the US ?

You would be breaking the law, but you might get away with it. I think they are more interested in making sure Kinder Eggs don’t get into the country.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Opportunity for people to personally export to the US ?

Yes, but the authorities would need to check the model and serial number of every iWatch leaving (*) and entering the US and match them to a passport. Needed to confirm a specific iWatch was sold before the import ban and thus has “free movement”, but also to confirm US passport holder left with iWatch and returned with the same iWatch etc.

As Apple disagree about their patent infringement and need to pay royalties, I doubt Apple will assist the US authorities, and going on the actions of other true American companies, will lobby Washington to starve the border force of resources necessary to perform effective checks…

[doublelayer]

Re: Opportunity for people to personally export to the US ?

The law says that buying outside the US and importing them is illegal. In practice, if you're doing it for yourself or some friends, nobody is going to find out and nobody will even try to check because they don't care. If you sell them at a shop or you're importing a large batch of them, you can expect someone to find out and to receive a nasty fine. Whether Apple will disable the feature in watches that were sold with it enabled is a better question, because that mechanism could affect your imported version as well depending on what the if statement condition is.

[simonb_london]

What? Half-inched trade secrets!?

The scoundrels! It's enough to make your blood boil. Or at least become deficient in oxygen just thinking about it.