Apple is now selling its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches without the ability to measure blood oxygen levels in the United States in an effort to continue sales of its latest smartwatches amid its patent dispute with Masimo.

“The ability to measure blood oxygen is no longer available on Apple Watch units sold by Apple in the United States beginning January 18, 2024. These are indicated with part numbers ending in LW/A” Apple is now On the shopping page it says Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches. Customers who purchase these smartwatches will reportedly see the Blood Oxygen feature icon while using them, but when they open it, the watches will inform them that “The Blood Oxygen app is no longer available. Learn more in the Health app on your iPhone,” as told to Bloomberg News.

What will happen to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 units already sold in the United States?

If you purchased an Apple Watch before out of stock, you will still be able to use the blood oxygen measurement feature. Additionally, entities in international markets will still have this feature, as the patent dispute does not apply there. This means, existing customers who were worried about this feature being lost in a future software update can heave a sigh of relief.

Patent dispute still continues

This sudden change is the result of a federal court ruling that Apple can no longer ban its smartwatches while it is in an active dispute with Masimo over blood oxygen sensing technology.

If you don’t know, Apple was found to be infringing on a patent owned by medical device manufacturer Masimo. This patent relates to measuring blood oxygen. Additionally, Massimo accused Apple of pushing its employees to work on technology similar to the Apple Watch.

This led to the International Trade Commission (ITC) issuing an import ban on Apple, prohibiting the company from bringing any Apple Watch with blood oxygen sensing. And that’s why the much cheaper Apple Watch SE 2 was exempted from the ban, and continues to be sold as is.