We knew it was coming, but now it's official: Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 no longer include the blood oxygen monitoring feature.
The change came as a result of a patent dispute between Apple and medical tech company Masimo, which briefly caused Apple to be banned from selling and importing its latest Apple Watch variants in the U.S. Now, to comply with the court's decision, Apple redesigned the new Watch variants without the pulse oximeter, which is used to measure the oxygen saturation level of the user's blood.
Apple now has a notice on top of its Apple Watch website, warning users that the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 now come without the feature. All mentions of the feature were removed from Apple's comparison tool for the Apple Watch as well.
According to Macrumors, new Apple Watch devices sold by Apple will still include the Blood Oxygen app, but it won't be functional. The site says that the app still works for people who already own these Apple Watch models, though it's unclear how long that will last.
There's a silver lining, however, but only for folks outside the U.S. Since the court's verdict only applies to the U.S., the Blood Oxygen app should continue working on Apple Watch models sold outside of the U.S.
I've tested it out on my Apple Watch Series 9, and it worked as expected.
Apple has appealed the court's decision, and it's possible that the feature gets re-introduced if the appeal is successful. For now, however, Blood Oxygen monitoring, once touted by Apple as a "breathtaking innovation," remains off limits in the U.S.
Topics Apple Watch
