There was a strange sight on Apple.com on Thursday afternoon: the Apple Watch Series 9, which arrived in September, was listed as “currently unavailable” for purchase. The reason was in the fine print at the bottom of the tech specs: “After December 24, 2023, Apple will no longer sell Apple Watch units in the United States with the ability to measure blood oxygen. »
In an almost unbelievable development, Apple is no longer allowed to sell the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the United States due to a dispute over its blood oxygen sensor. A court ruling found that Apple had infringed two of Masimo’s patents for measuring blood oxygen and that because both of these watches contain pulse oximeter sensors, they can no longer be sold online by Apple . This ban will extend to its retail stores and third-party sellers as well as shipping to Amazon and Best Buy after Christmas.
Thursday, December 21, Apple stopped selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 on its online store.
Apple
According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurmanthe inability to sell Apple Watches equipped with blood oxygen sensors extends to the possibility of fix any Apple Watch equipped with a blood oxygen sensor. It reports that Apple told staff that “it cannot replace Series 6 and newer out of warranty” for any reason.
It is unclear what the next steps will be or how long the ban will last. After an appeal failed, Apple presumably hoped that President Biden would reverse the ban, but that did not happen. Apple’s software engineers are reportedly “racing” to figure out how to continue selling the Apple Watch Series 9 with the existing sensor, but Masimo doesn’t think such a solution is possible without completely disabling the sensor.
