These extremes have rarely been reached at Apple, at least that I remember in the more than 16 years that I have been writing about the company. The consequences of Masimo's patent conflict, after removing some Apple Watch models from stores, has caused another consequence.
Apple already has its Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 back in stores, but has had to take an unprecedented measure while waiting for the court's resolution. One that unfortunately fully affects American users.
Goodbye to blood oxygen detection on Apple Watch (for now)
When the Apple Watch could be sold again in stores in the United States, we already said that around these dates we were going to have some news about it. And here it is: in order to continue selling them, Apple has had no choice but deactivate the application to detect blood oxygen in watches to be sold in the future.
If you go to a US Apple Store right now and look for an Apple Watch Series 9 or an Apple Watch Ultra 2, they will still offer to measure blood oxygen with their dedicated application. But according to Mark Gurman, the company has ready models of those Apple Watches without the application to measure blood oxygen.
The company has not revealed when it will put these models on sale, but it is the resource they have had to access so that the courts do not force those watches to be removed from the Apple Store again. At the moment no Apple spokesperson has given more details, but From Masimo they value it positively as “a gesture of responsibility”.
The measure is serious, because it involves removing an important functionality from the Apple Watch, limiting its possibilities. Something like this had never happened with a main product of the company.
The Apple Watch in Spain and other countries are free
Remember that this only affects the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 sold in the United States. In Spain (and in the rest of the world) we will continue to have the entire range of Apple watches on sale, with all its features and sensors activated.
If Apple does not want this incident to be repeated in the future, it will need to take additional measures. Perhaps it will resort to using another blood oxygen sensor that does not affect the alleged interference with Masimo's patents, or simply reach an agreement with that company to ensure that situations like this do not repeat themselves. We will be attentive to more news on this matter.
Image | Solen Feyissa
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