Apple changes blood oxygen measurement on US watches due to import ban
Blood oxygen measurement has been blocked on Apple Watches sold in the USA for over 1.5 years due to a patent dispute. This is now set to change.
(Image: Sebastian Trepesch / heise medien)
Apple wants to reactivate deactivated blood oxygen measurement on Apple Watches produced for the US market—albeit in a modified form. With the updates to iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 scheduled for Thursday, it will once again be possible to measure the oxygen content in the blood with the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 model series. However, the calculation is now performed by the paired iPhone, and the result can only be viewed there in the Health app, as Apple announced.
However, this does not appear to be possible on the watch itself—in contrast to other regions such as Germany, where the blood oxygen app performs this on the watch and also displays the value there.
Apple: No impact on other watches
The new watchOS update has no impact on watches that still have the “original blood oxygen function,” nor on models of the smartwatch that were purchased outside the USA, Apple notes. However, users who have purchased their watch on a trip to the US in the past year and a half will also be able to measure the oxygen content in their blood for the first time.
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The update was made possible by a new ruling from US customs, Apple noted, without providing further details. Since the beginning of 2024, Apple has blocked the blood oxygen function on US watches whose part number ends with the character combination LW/A to be allowed to continue importing the smartwatch.
Following a patent complaint by Masimo, the International Trade Commission (ITC) imposed an import ban on Apple for the US market at the end of 2023, deeming two Masimo patents to have been infringed. Masimo and Apple have been engaged in a bitter patent dispute with lawsuits and counterclaims for several years, and it is clear that neither party wanted to give in. It remains unclear whether the temporary loss of the blood oxygen function has affected sales of the Watch. Sales in Apple's wearables division have been stagnating for some time.
Apple bundles more and more values into vital signs
Blood oxygen measurement with the Watch is not considered very meaningful, and the values are also heavily dependent on the way the watch is worn on the wrist. Unlike other functions, such as the integrated ECG, the blood oxygen app is also not clinically validated. In any case, Apple has brought the collected data more to the fore with the vital signs function of watchOS 11. The app informs users of any noticeable deviations in the values measured overnight for heart rate, respiratory rate, temperature, sleep duration, and blood oxygen content and can therefore provide indications of an infection. In a few weeks, Apple is also expected to unveil the Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3, and possibly a new SE along with the iPhone 17 series.
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