Redesigned Blood Oxygen Monitoring in Apple Watch

In early 2024, Apple made the strategic decision to remove the blood oxygen monitoring functionality from its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 models. This decision followed a legal ruling which found that the feature infringed on light-based pulse oximetry patents held by Masimo, a company based in California. Removing this feature allowed Apple to navigate around an imposed import ban, enabling continued sales of their Series 9, Ultra 2, and future Series 10 watches in the US market.

Recently, Apple has announced the return of a redesigned version of the blood oxygen monitoring feature for the affected models. This update has been sanctioned by a recent U.S. Customs ruling. The redesign is presumably to circumvent the Masimo patents, allowing the company to avoid any previous issues. Now, sensor data collected by the watch is processed on the user's iPhone and can be accessed in the Health app's Respiratory section.

Unlike the original feature, which permitted users to view results directly on the Apple Watch, the updated version requires installating watchOS 11.6.1 on the devices and iOS 18.6.1 on paired iPhones. The update, however, will only apply to watches sold in the US post the import ban. For international models and US watches sold prior to the import ban, there will be no change as they retained the original feature.

The patent battle began in January 2020 when Masimo accused Apple of infringing on their technology, which Apple initially learned about during a meeting between the companies back in 2013, intended to discuss possible collaboration or acquisition. However, Apple allegedly hired Masimo engineers to implement the technology independently.