Redesigned blood oxygen monitoring returns to Apple Watch following patent dispute

In early 2024, Apple faced a significant setback when it had to disable the blood oxygen monitoring feature on its Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 due to a legal ruling. The decision stemmed from a patent dispute with Masimo, a California-based company, which claimed that Apple's use of light-based pulse oximetry technology infringed on its patents. To avoid an import ban and ensure continued sales of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models in the U.S., Apple made the tough choice to remove this feature temporarily. However, in a recent announcement, Apple revealed its intention to reintroduce a redesigned version of the blood oxygen monitoring feature for the affected watches, including the Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2. This revival comes following a favorable ruling from U.S. Customs, which provided Apple with the green light to proceed. The newly implemented feature has been modified, likely to circumvent the original patents that led to the prior removal. Apple explained that sensor data collected from the watch will now be transmitted to users’ iPhones for processing, allowing them to access their blood oxygen levels through the Respiratory section of the Health app. Unlike the previous iteration, which displayed results directly on the watch, this updated version leverages the iPhone for enhanced data management.