Blood Oxygen Tracking Returns to U.S. Apple Watches Today After 5-Year Patent Dispute

Good news: Apple Watches sold in the U.S. after January 2024 lost their built-in blood oxygen tracking because of a patent dispute with medical company Masimo, but the feature will return via a software update coming out today.

In a Newsroom post, Apple says it’s introducing a “redesigned Blood Oxygen feature for some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2.” The reworked blood oxygen feature will be pushed out on iPhone and Apple Watch via an iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1 software update. “Following this update, sensor data from the Blood Oxygen app on Apple Watch will be measured and calculated on the paired iPhone, and results can be viewed in the Respiratory section of the Health app.”

Apple also added, “There will be no impact to Apple Watch units previously purchased that include the original Blood Oxygen feature, nor to Apple Watch units purchased outside of the U.S.”

Neither Apple nor Masimo has shared full details on how blood oxygen tracking is returning to impacted Apple Watches. “This update was enabled by a recent U.S. Customs ruling,” writes the iPhone maker.

Blood oxygen tracking was disabled on Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 after Masimo sued Apple in 2020 for infringing on its health monitoring patents. At the center of the lawsuit was how the Apple Watch measured pulse oximetry via noninvasive sensors, which led to Apple disabling blood oxygen monitoring in smartwatches shipped to the U.S. The hardware sensors were still present on all shipping Apple Watches; the feature was only disabled in software, leaving open the possibility for some future resolution. Five years after being sued and 1.5 years after shipping disabled Apple Watches to the U.S., blood oxygen is returning. The timing couldn’t be better for the tech giant. The company is less than a month out from announcing new Apple Watches—likely Series 11 and possibly Ultra 3—alongside a family of iPhone 17 devices and maybe even new AirPods with a live translation feature.

Somewhere at Apple Park, Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams, who led Apple Watch design but is leaving by the end of the year, are cracking open some tall boys in celebration.

This story is developing…