Apple’s recent move to disable the blood oxygen monitoring feature on its Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models in the United States has taken the tech community by surprise. This development stems from a legal tussle with medical device company Masimo, leading to the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denying Apple’s request to stay the interim ban on sales of these two smartwatches with blood oxygen measurement capabilities as of January 18, 2024, according to reports by The Verge.
Effective from this date, the tech giant began offering the Watch Series 9 and the Ultra 2 without the blood oxygen saturation feature activated. Although the hardware capable of taking these measurements is still present, the functionality has been rendered inaccessible via software restrictions. Customers will still notice the Blood Oxygen icon within the application suite, but selecting it results in a message stating, “The Blood Oxygen app is no longer available. Learn more in the Health app on your iPhone.”
New Model Numbers Identifying Feature-Less Watches
To differentiate between the versions, Apple has assigned new model numbers that end with LW/A to the modified Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 units without blood oxygen monitoring. Apple notes that only models sold within the United States after January 18, 2024, are affected by this change, meaning that any units sold before this date in the U.S., or those sold internationally, retain all original features including blood oxygen monitoring.
Industry experts anticipate that the dispute between Apple and Masimo could take up to a year to resolve. In the interim, customers who purchase the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the U.S. will not have access to the blood oxygen saturation monitoring capability. This feature is considered critically important to many users, particularly given the high price point of Apple’s smartwatches, and its absence could be a significant deterrent for potential buyers.
Understanding the pivotal role such features play in health monitoring and overall user experience, the removal of blood oxygen monitoring from these two flagship smartwatches is noteworthy. Consumers in the market for an Apple Watch with a full range of health-tracking features may need to weigh this recent change carefully or seek out models that were distributed before the imposed cutoff date or in other regions outside of the United States.
