Apple today announced that blood oxygen monitoring will today return to Apple Watch models in the United States via a software update.
Apple says that its blood oxygen monitoring feature has been “redesigned” for the Apple Watch Series 9, Apple Watch Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States. The new solution for blood oxygen monitoring involves measuring sensor data from the Blood Oxygen app on the Apple Watch, and sending it for calculation to a paired iPhone, with the results to be viewable in the Respiratory section of the Health app.
The redesigned blood oxygen monitoring feature will be available as part of iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1. The update will roll out later today.
Apple Watch models in the United States that include the original blood oxygen monitoring feature and those purchased internationally will be unchanged by the update.
Apple says that the update is enabled by a recent U.S. Customs ruling. Apple has been in a long-running patent dispute with health technology company Masimo over the Apple Watch’s Blood Oxygen feature. The conflict intensified in December 2023, when an import ban took effect, which blocked U.S. sales of Apple Watch models with the feature.
Apple paused sales in the U.S. for several days before resuming on January 18, 2024, with the Series 9 and Ultra 2 being sold without blood oxygen monitoring. That arrangement has remained in place since then. The Apple Watch Series 10 launched in September 2024, still lacking the feature. Legal proceedings between Apple and Masimo continue.
More to follow…
This article, “Blood Oxygen Feature Finally Returning to Apple Watch in the US” first appeared on MacRumors.com
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