On Thursday afternoon, there was a wierd sight on Apple.com–the Apple Watch Collection 9, which arrived in September, was listed as “At present Unavailable” for buy. In high-quality print on the backside of the tech specs was the explanation: “Following December 24, 2023, Apple not sells Apple Watch models in the USA with the flexibility to measure blood oxygen.”
In an virtually unbelievable state of affairs, Apple is not permitted to promote the Apple Watch Collection 9 and Extremely 2 within the U.S. because of a dispute over its blood-oxygen sensor. A courtroom ruling discovered that Apple infringed on two of Masimo’s patents for measuring blood oxygen, and since these two watches comprise pulse oximeter sensors, they will not be bought on-line by Apple. That ban will prolong to its retail shops and third-party sellers and shipments to Amazon and Finest Purchase after Christmas.
On Thursday, December 21, Apple stopped promoting the Apple Watch Collection 9 and Extremely 2 on its on-line retailer.
Apple
In accordance with Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, the lack to promote Apple Watches with blood-oxygen sensors extends to the flexibility to repair any Apple Watch with a blood-oxygen sensor. He experiences that Apple has instructed employees that “it could’t change out-of-warranty Collection 6 and newer” for any cause.
It’s not clear what the subsequent steps are or how lengthy the ban will final. After a failed attraction, Apple was presumably hoping for President Biden to overturn the ban, however that hasn’t occurred. Software program engineers at Apple are reportedly “racing” to determine the best way to proceed promoting the Apple Watch Collection 9 with the present sensor, however Masimo doesn’t suppose such an answer is feasible with out disabling the sensor altogether.
