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Missing watch feature • Available since 2020 • Ban lifted temporarily • Focus on older adults • SE still available
Apple has begun selling its latest smartwatches without a key feature previously available: the capability of measuring a person’s blood oxygen levels.
The tech titan pulled the plug on the feature after a federal appeals court reinstated a ban Jan. 17 that kept Apple from selling Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models with the blood oxygen technology at the heart of an ongoing patent infringement dispute. Last month, the Biden administration refused to reverse a U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) decision banning sales of the models.
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Potential Apple Watch buyers who come to Apple’s website are informed that these latest models no longer have the blood oxygen sensor.
“There is no impact to Apple Watch units previously purchased that include the blood oxygen feature,” a company statement shared with AARP says. So current owners are apparently in the clear.
Customers who purchase watches without the feature will still see a blood oxygen icon on their wrist; however, when it is tapped, they will see: “The Blood Oxygen app is no longer available. Learn more in the Health app on your iPhone.”
In their phone’s Health app, users will see “unavailable” for Blood Oxygen and a link where they can learn more.
Blood oxygen sensor available for more than 3 years
Apple has featured a blood oxygen sensor on its smartwatches since the Apple Watch Series 6 was released in September 2020 in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. Doctors at that time realized that low oxygen levels could be a warning sign of severe COVID-19. Less than a year later, Irvine, California-based Masimo alleged that the tech giant had violated several of the patents Masimo filed on measuring blood oxygen levels.
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