Disabled US Blood Oxygen Function [MERGED]

[JPack]

So what are the actual chances blood oxygen comes back to the Apple Watch? Or would Apple have to completely redesign how it reads blood oxygen before it returns?

Probably slim, but it's anyone's guess.

This dispute has been ongoing since January 2020. If Apple wanted to settle by licensing, they would have done it by now. If there were a commercially feasible way to use another sensor, it probably would have been done by now.

The two infringing patents are set to expire August 2028.

 

[Abazigal]

The alternative is to wait for the patents to expire in 2027?

So you will get it back eventually. “Eventually” being the key word here.

 

[Shirasaki]

Probably slim, but it's anyone's guess.

This dispute has been ongoing since January 2020. If Apple wanted to settle by licensing, they would have done it by now. If there were a commercially feasible way to use another sensor, it probably would have been done by now.

The two infringing patents are set to expire August 2028.

If certain other court cases are anything to go by, it might really take that long to finalise. So 4 more years to wait I guess.

PS: I am not affected for this issue as I bought my watch in Australia, but still.

 

[boss.king]

What value are people getting from the blood ox sensor? I have it but I’ve never seen a use for it in my life.

 

[SuperCachetes]

I just had my S6 replaced under AppleCare+ and the replacement has SPo2 enabled but, I'm hesitant to purchase a new watch until it's either confirmed the hardware is still in the watch or they settle the dispute. I believe replacement older watches will have the SPo2 enabled only if replaced under warranty (AppleCare+). If you're paying out of pocket, SPo2 will be disabled. At least that's the way I interpret the conditions of the ITC ban after reading it. Maybe someone who has paid out of pocket for a replacement for worn battery can clarify..

Had the battery “replaced” in my S6 earlier in the year at my cost, and can confirm that the replacement watch had SpO2 disabled.

During the process in the Apple Store I had to initial a specific acknowledgement about it, but that didn’t make me any happier about it.

 

[Capeto]

I have never upgraded my watch yearly (S3 -> S6 -> S9) but the S10 really tempted me– namely, the titanium version which is only a couple of grams heavier than my current aluminum S9 but has the sapphire screen. However, the lack of blood oxygen sensor ultimately kept me from upgrading, as I want to use the sleep tracking and vitals stuff from WatchOS 11.

I recently read that Masimo's CEO was recently ousted, so I'm wondering if the new leadership will be willing to play ball with Apple.

 

[ericthered926]

I’m holding onto my series 6 partly because of this. I got the battery replaced a year ago and plan to have it at least another year (also has the same processor as the S8/Ultra so no big reason to upgrade). If it’s not resolved for the series 11/Ultra 3 I’ll probably hop on over to Canada and get one there.

 

[Indianwin2001]

What value are people getting from the blood ox sensor? I have it but I’ve never seen a use for it in my life.

If you have a lung problem it is certainly helpful.

 

[jz0309]

What value are people getting from the blood ox sensor? I have it but I’ve never seen a use for it in my life.

Many posts here reporting eg early detection of covid, flu…

 

[jz0309]

The purpose of this post is because I just switched back to Apple from Garmin and haven’t been following this in over a year. Sorry if I offended you.

You didn’t offend me, and sorry if I came across harsh, just so many posts on this…

Best thing to do would be:
. Provide products feedback and say you’re disappointed and you won’t upgrade your AW til the feature is back
. Send an email to tcook@apple.com with the same message

Apple needs to hear from consumers directly, they ignore these boards

 

[Robert.Walter]

When are the underlying patents scheduled to expire?

 

[boss.king]

If you have a lung problem it is certainly helpful.

But it’s not a medical grade device. I get that it can help a little but surely if you have a lung problem worth monitoring, you’d want an actual blood ox sensor? Or is this just in addition to one of those?

Many posts here reporting eg early detection of covid, flu…

Resting heart rate spikes already give you an early warning of sickness. I’ve been using that since I first got an S3 with pretty decent accuracy. I’m not saying blood ox can’t also do that, but if you don’t have it you can always default back to resting heart rate.

 

[HailstormX]

On the new models (ultra 2 and series 10) is the hardware still there for it? and it's just disabled in software? Im using an Ultra 1 and was curious if they removed it on Ultra 2 and Series 10. Would be cool if it could be enabled in software once all this stuff is sorted out.

 

[frost_horizon]

On the new models (ultra 2 and series 10) is the hardware still there for it? and it's just disabled in software? Im using an Ultra 1 and was curious if they removed it on Ultra 2 and Series 10. Would be cool if it could be enabled in software once all this stuff is sorted out.

I think that it should be in place. It would be a huge miss if they resolve patent issues and there is no hardware in some of the later models.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

When are the underlying patents scheduled to expire?

2028

 

[HarryVafias]

Well the hardware is still in place I believe. As here in Europe we have this function in Apple Watch 10. It would be very weird if Apple produce different hardware for different markets. I believe in the US is just software lock.

 

[haruhiko]

Luckily the patents are only for the U.S. 😂

 

[bodonnell202]

On the new models (ultra 2 and series 10) is the hardware still there for it? and it's just disabled in software? Im using an Ultra 1 and was curious if they removed it on Ultra 2 and Series 10. Would be cool if it could be enabled in software once all this stuff is sorted out.

All the Apple Watches sold outside the US still have it, so I’m pretty sure that it’s just disabled in software on the watches sold in the US.

 

[Berti10]

Blood Oxygen? Works fine in the EU ✌🏻

 

[weather34]

On the new models (ultra 2 and series 10) is the hardware still there for it? and it's just disabled in software? Im using an Ultra 1 and was curious if they removed it on Ultra 2 and Series 10. Would be cool if it could be enabled in software once all this stuff is sorted out.

hardware is there just disabled in USA sold models . works perfectly fine here in Türkiye 🇹🇷 and rest of world sold versions wife has a new S10 this weekend my ultra 2 purchased in May 2024 both have the functionality .

 

[MikeTaku]

hardware is there just disabled in USA sold models . works perfectly fine here in Türkiye 🇹🇷 and rest of world sold versions wife has a new S10 this weekend my ultra 2 purchased in May 2024 both have the functionality .

Hey,
Can you please tell me the difference in hardware functionality between phones sold in the USA and those sold in Türkiye or other countries?

 

[mtbdudex]

C’mon Apple. Settle the patent dispute so we can have blood oxygen again.

Hmm, 2 weeks ago same exact topic

Blood Oxygen

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/blood-oxygen.2427886/

 

[mtbdudex]

Hopefully they settle soon

 

[Capeto]

Hey,
Can you please tell me the difference in hardware functionality between phones sold in the USA and those sold in Türkiye or other countries?

Not the person you’re replying to, but hardware should be identical other than the bands they can connect to, as certain regions use different bands. Only major difference is Chinese iPhones have 2 SIM trays and no eSIM capability, but I don’t know if that is still the case.

You should buy the phone in the region you’re going to spend the most time in to ensure compatibility with your local carriers.

 

[jz0309]

But it’s not a medical grade device. I get that it can help a little but surely if you have a lung problem worth monitoring, you’d want an actual blood ox sensor? Or is this just in addition to one of those?


Resting heart rate spikes already give you an early warning of sickness. I’ve been using that since I first got an S3 with pretty decent accuracy. I’m not saying blood ox can’t also do that, but if you don’t have it you can always default back to resting heart rate.

More datapoints are useeful, if you don’t think bloodox gives you value, that’s fine, others incl myself do find it useful