On Thursday, Aug. 14 Apple announced a redesigned blood oxygen feature for select Apple Watch users following an intellectual property lawsuit over the watch’s capability.
Why Was the Apple Watch in Question?
In late 2023, the International Trade Commission found that Apple’s blood oxygen sensors infringed on intellectual property from Masimo, a medical technology company. The tech company went on to pause the sale of some of its watches and began selling modified versions of the wearable device without a blood oxygen feature.
Apple Announces Change to its Watch
Apple announced the company will introduce a redesigned blood oxygen feature for some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users through an iPhone and Apple Watch software update coming later today.
Users with models noted above will receive access to the redesigned blood oxygen feature by updating their paired iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1. Once the update is complete 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 revealed the update was made possible by a recent U.S. Customs ruling.
Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features that are grounded in science and have privacy at the core,” the company said in a statement.
“Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 also offer users irregular rhythm notifications, the ECG app, Sleep Apnea Notifications, Fall Detection, sleep tracking, wrist temperature sensing, the Vitals app, the Noise app, the Medications app, and the Mindfulness app, among many other helpful tools, helping users live a healthier life.”
Users can access the new data as soon as today, Aug. 14 – once they’ve updated the app.
Related: Southwest Airlines Announces Change on All Flights Starting August 13
