Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Maybe I'm not understanding what feature is causing the apple watch ban of the series 9 and Ultra. I was saying I had the Series 8 because they were not impacted by the Watch ban because it didn't have that feature. I did check and it does have the blood oxygen, but maybe I'm confused on what the feature is that is causing the dispute.
its only an issue with new sells. the ones that are already sold are not being taken away
 
It is FUD.
For one, there is no legal requirement for Apple to do so, ban only impacts sales after Jan 18.

It has nothing to do with any legal requirement. What it has to do with is the fact that Apple used a change at the software level - the code - to disable the O2 functionality. So whenever they figure out this issue, they can simply release another WatchOS update, take out that code change, and the O2 functionality is there. Going further with that, that would imply that - wait for it - there is no hardware change in the S9 nor U2.

Second, IF Apple were to disable the functionality on their own, they’d remove an advertised feature and there would lawsuit after lawsuit, and even more upset users.

That looks to be exactly what they have done. It's a simple check: If Model number/Identifier == LW/A, then enabled=1, else enabled=0. And if it came down to it, if they were required to add LL/A to that list, then that would allow WatchOS to disable the O2 sensor on the Series 7.

Tailor to programming language of choice.

The lingering question is: what is the identifier/model number of the S9 and U2s sold prior to the ban? If those match LW/A, then there could have been the potential for those to be disabled with this update. That isn't FUD, but the need to check the model number/identifier to see what that is; it has already been verified that the code is handling the enabling of the O2 sensor.

So, dies Apple have the capability to do that? Sure. Will say? Not without a legal requirement

Now you know why it was a big issue to check the how the pre-ban S9s and U2s handle this release.

BL.
 
you guys don't use the blood OS come on now. You guys never ever thought about it until it was in the lawsuit.

Heh.

My wife is the survivor of 7 pulmonary embolisms, including two that were submassive. Picture a blod clot the size of a grapefruit trying to escape out of your pulmonary artery to get to your lungs. All of them have done substantial damage to her lungs, requiring the constant use of a pulse oximeter let alone O2 sensor to make sure she is still breathing instead of falling unconscious to another PE that could kill her.

In short, because one does not know the personal uses of any person may or may not be not doing with the O2 sensor or any other functionality to any other device - Apple, or otherwise, one should keep such prejudicial opinions to themselves.

BL.
 
Last edited:
I will say what I always say when it is watch Update day. I really wish there was a better way to update the watch. It's slow, it gives me a little anxiety because I'm in the process of ring closing for the day, and I hate that I have to put a fully charged watch on my charger to make sure the update runs properly. It's the 10th anniversary of the watch. Can we come up with a way to streamline the process?

That's probably what I'm looking most forward to with the new OS at WWDC. Streamline Watch Update Days where they go a lot more smoothly than they typically go.
Do you put your watch on the charger and then initiate the update, or do you initiate the update and then put your watch on the charger when needed? Doing the latter can be "quicker" and save you time since the charger is only needed for the actual installation stage of the update.

I've always started the update while I'm still wearing my watch. This does the download and preparing stage, which generally takes about 10-20 minutes for me. It does this in the background, so you can still do other things. Then when I get home or hop in the shower, I put my watch on the charger so it can do the install. This stage has never taken more than 10 minutes for me, at least not recently. So while the entire update process may take 20-30 minutes total, you only need to be without your watch for 10 minutes or so (assuming your battery is already above 50%).
 
It has nothing to do with any legal requirement. What it has to do with is the fact that Apple used a change at the software level - the code - to disable the O2 functionality. So whenever they figure out this issue, they can simply release another WatchOS update, take out that code change, and the O2 functionality is there. Going further with that, that would imply that - wait for it - there is no hardware change in the S9 nor U2.



That looks to be exactly what they have done. It's a simple check: If Model number/Identifier == LW/A, then enabled=1, else enabled=0. And if it came down to it, if they were required to add LL/A to that list, then that would allow WatchOS to disable the O2 sensor on the Series 7.

Tailor to programming language of choice.

The lingering question is: what is the identifier/model number of the S9 and U2s sold prior to the ban? If those match LW/A, then there could have been the potential for those to be disabled with this update. That isn't FUD, but the need to check the model number/identifier to see what that is; it has already been verified that the code is handling the enabling of the O2 sensor.



Now you know why it was a big issue to check the how the pre-ban S9s and U2s handle this release.

BL.
All the statements that Apple would disable SPO2 on S6/7/8 or S9 and Ultra 2 (sold before import ban went into effect) are FUD, nothing else.
And on those models with disabled SpO2 Apple will likely turn the feature on once this issue is settled, assuming it’s settled in Apples favor.
 
Do you put your watch on the charger and then initiate the update, or do you initiate the update and then put your watch on the charger when needed? Doing the latter can be "quicker" and save you time since the charger is only needed for the actual installation stage of the update.

I've always started the update while I'm still wearing my watch. This does the download and preparing stage, which generally takes about 10-20 minutes for me. It does this in the background, so you can still do other things. Then when I get home or hop in the shower, I put my watch on the charger so it can do the install. This stage has never taken more than 10 minutes for me, at least not recently. So while the entire update process may take 20-30 minutes total, you only need to be without your watch for 10 minutes or so (assuming your battery is already above 50%).

I did put it on the charger after I initiated the update and it wasn't bad today. Still, I don't know why it takes so long to update, but maybe it's just the size of the watch and how much has to actually go into it?
 
I updated my AW4 and I don't have the O2 app. Did I download it wrong?:p
 
I will say what I always say when it is watch Update day. I really wish there was a better way to update the watch. It's slow, it gives me a little anxiety because I'm in the process of ring closing for the day, and I hate that I have to put a fully charged watch on my charger to make sure the update runs properly. It's the 10th anniversary of the watch. Can we come up with a way to streamline the process?

That's probably what I'm looking most forward to with the new OS at WWDC. Streamline Watch Update Days where they go a lot more smoothly than they typically go.
I updated today during work, but I have also let it update overnight while charging. I think either option is fine so long as you aren’t bent on getting it the moment the update gets released.
 
All the statements that Apple would disable SPO2 on S6/7/8 or S9 and Ultra 2 (sold before import ban went into effect) are FUD, nothing else.

So MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AI, and all others are completely wrong and are spreading FUD that Apple would disable the O2 sensor?




But you miss the point: The point here is that it was going to be handled by software, which is what was reported, and what I posted. But yeah, keep calling that FUD. :rolleyes:

And on those models with disabled SpO2 Apple will likely turn the feature on once this issue is settled, assuming it’s settled in Apples favor.

Bold for emphasis.

So you agree that the change in the pre-ban and post-ban S9s and U2s are all based in SOFTWARE. Thank you for yourself proving that the change is not FUD.

BL.
 
  • Like
Reactions: johnmarki and B4U
I'm just hoping Apple, a company with a 3 trillion USD market cap (i.e., not a start-up), might fix the well-known (to them) bug that prevents real time updates in complications on the Apple Watch. It's been quite a while now since Apple broke this.

I've been optimistically updating my AW every chance I get in hopes of a fix. And my optimism has proved, um, optimistic? ;) Maybe this time I'll get lucky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jamesnajera
I couldn't care less about a new watch face... I just hope they put some time into improving the battery life on older watches.

My Series 5 was going strong on watchOS 9... but, as soon as I updated to 10, it became a tossup whether the watch will makes it through the evening.
 
10:09 again! :mad:
Unbelievable! I’m seriously beginning to think that Apple might have the single most dysfunctional software development operation of any major company. Apple does some amazing things, e.g. FaceID is verging on magic, but then it doesn’t fix absolutely glaring bugs like this. It’s bad enough to let them out of the door, I found the bug within about 60 seconds after I updated, and being related to a newly introduced feature you would have thought someone at Apple might have noticed it, but to then not fix it in the next release is crazy.

It reminds me a bit of an iOS bug a few years ago when the clocks changing in Spring/Autumn caused all alarms that had been set to stop going off. Apple did put in a fix for that in the next release but the fix didn’t work either so it took another release before alarms finally worked reliably again.

Apple does some impressive big things but on the smaller things it can be infuriatingly bad.
 
  • Like
Reactions: IJBrekke
I think the smaller battery in apple watch makes it extra critical they get the efficiency of the software right as those processors are pretty powerful for a watch.
Optimizations would be huge. I wish I could kill a few processes that run constantly, like the oxygen monitor. I only really want that data if I’m unwell or maybe doing a lot of cardio etc. A few extra toggles would be so great.

I even killed my cellular plan on mine as the battery got eaten up so badly, which was frustrating as I like to leave the house with just the watch so I don’t fall into the habit of overusing my phone and interact with the world around me a bit more (not sure if that makes sense of sounds crazy).
 
Unbelievable! I’m seriously beginning to think that Apple might have the single most dysfunctional software development operation of any major company. Apple does some amazing things, e.g. FaceID is verging on magic, but then it doesn’t fix absolutely glaring bugs like this. It’s bad enough to let them out of the door, I found the bug within about 60 seconds after I updated, and being related to a newly introduced feature you would have thought someone at Apple might have noticed it, but to then not fix it in the next release is crazy.
What is this bug? I have no idea what everyone's talking about by 10:09.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jamesnajera
What is this bug? I have no idea what everyone's talking about by 10:09.
It‘s a bug that started when Apple re-introduced the ability to swipe between watch faces. In the old days you could swipe left & right to switch between multiple faces and the experience was quite natural. Then Apple removed that ability to switch with simple swipes (you had to long-press to go into edit mode in order to change your currently active watch face) but, after I assume numerous customer complaints, introduced it again.

The problem now is that all watch faces not active seems to set their time to 10:09 so when you swipe to another face it always initially shows the time as 10:09 regardless of what the actual time is and then a split second later it changes to the actual time. On an analogue watch face it’s quite jarring because you actually see the hands moving around the clock face as it resets itself to the actual time almost as if someone is manually correcting the watch. In my view it is quite jarring and, given that this wasn’t the behaviour before Apple withdrew the swipe-to-change-faces feature for a while, is definitely a bug (in my opinion).
 
  • Haha
Reactions: b17777
My Series 5 was going strong on watchOS 9... but, as soon as I updated to 10, it became a tossup whether the watch will makes it through the evening.

That is one major reason why mine is also on 9; I could probably get used to the UI mess, but a hit to battery life would be unacceptable.
Previously I tried upgrading an S4 and that was badly affected.
 
So MacRumors, 9to5Mac, AI, and all others are completely wrong and are spreading FUD that Apple would disable the O2 sensor?




But you miss the point: The point here is that it was going to be handled by software, which is what was reported, and what I posted. But yeah, keep calling that FUD. :rolleyes:



Bold for emphasis.

So you agree that the change in the pre-ban and post-ban S9s and U2s are all based in SOFTWARE. Thank you for yourself proving that the change is not FUD.

BL.
I think you are talking at cross-purposes.

The SpO2 feature is disabled in software for all Apple Watch 9 and Ultra 2s sold after the latest sales ban came into effect. They all have different serial numbers to differentiate them from models sold before the sales ban. Apple Watches sold before the latest sales ban will not have the SpO2 sensor disabled in software.

The hardware has not been changed in any way from what people can tell; the feature is simply disabled in software, which satisfied the ITC.

Anyone saying that watches sold prior to the latest sales ban will have the SpO2 functionality disabled in software are spreading FUD.

Those who buy a watch after the sales ban came into effect know that the watch no longer has SpO2 monitoring as that feature has been removed from the feature list. Anyone who bought an Apple Watch prior to the latest sales ban will continue to enjoy SpO2 monitoring.
 
Last edited:
It‘s a bug that started when Apple re-introduced the ability to swipe between watch faces. In the old days you could swipe left & right to switch between multiple faces and the experience was quite natural. Then Apple removed that ability to switch with simple swipes (you had to long-press to go into edit mode in order to change your currently active watch face) but, after I assume numerous customer complaints, introduced it again.

The problem now is that all watch faces not active seems to set their time to 10:09 so when you swipe to another face it always initially shows the time as 10:09 regardless of what the actual time is and then a split second later it changes to the actual time. On an analogue watch face it’s quite jarring because you actually see the hands moving around the clock face as it resets itself to the actual time almost as if someone is manually correcting the watch. In my view it is quite jarring and, given that this wasn’t the behaviour before Apple withdrew the swipe-to-change-faces feature for a while, is definitely a bug (in my opinion).
Oh, I see. I did spot that but didn't consider it a bug. 10:10 (or 10:09:30) is the standard time that clocks are set to when they're on display. It's got to be intentional, it would be too much of a coincidence for it to be a bug.
 
  • Like
Reactions: onenorth
Why are you trying to spread misinformation and FUD about this? It has been made perfectly clear that watches sold before 1/18/2024 will continue to have O2 functionality.
Agreed, it's also been made abundantly clear that Masimo patented someone else's work, is a patten troll, and is a two billion dollar company, not the little guy they claim they are fighting for.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.