Apple Watch ditches blood oxygen function to circumvent import ban

The blood oxygen feature is about to disappear from the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 devices.While Apple itself has yet to issue a statement or respond to our request for comment, both Bloomberg and 9 to 5 The feature will reportedly be removed and U.S. Customs and Border Protection has approved the measure, which would allow Apple to consider selling both products after banning them last year.

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 were both banned in the United States late last year due to a patent dispute with medical device manufacturer Masimo. The International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled that the blood oxygen sensors in the two devices infringed Masimo’s patents.

In the weeks that followed, Apple began making changes to the watch in an attempt to circumvent Masimo’s patent. Customs will be tasked with determining whether the company’s proposed changes are sufficient, according to a letter released by Masimo’s attorneys. 9 to 5 All parties seem to agree on the new plan to remove the feature from the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.

Mark Gurman is at Bloomberg It is also reported that the modified watches have been shipped to Apple retail stores, but the stores have been instructed not to sell the modified watches until they receive news from the company.

For now, the feature appears to still work on watches that have been sold, and it’s unclear whether those watches will lose the feature in a future software update or be allowed to continue using the blood oxygen feature. Of course, we’ve reached out to Apple to clarify all of this, as it’s highly unusual for confirmation not to come from customs or Apple but from Masimo.

Until Apple makes a statement one way or another, you might want to double-check the comments before making any updates to your watch.