Will I loose Blood Oxygen App on Apple Watch?

As mentioned, you haven’t lost anything to be compensated for. The ban applies to watches sold after 1/18/24. There has been no indication that this will affect watches sold before that date or any of the previous models that use the same technology.

It’s not all Series 9. It’s based on model number.

Series 9 and Ultra 2 Models ending in LW/A: the app was disabled 1/18 (and as I understand it, as of 1/18 the Apple Store would only be selling watches ending in this model number).

Any other models: it was not disabled.

It sounds like you had a device with a model number ending in LW/A.

There’s a pretty good collection of info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AppleWatch/s/TsL2vlrO4L

This is not true. It is all series 9 and Ultra 2 sold AFTER 1/18/24 sold in the US from Apple not ones purchased before that date (or after that date from authorized non-Apple retailers that still have inventory from prior to that date). The new update does not disable the feature on ALL series 9/Ultra 2. Also….if people updated to the 9 primarily or solely because of the feature that is extremely odd unless they had much older models since the feature has existed on numerous models before the series 9. But to state that the feature will be disabled when your watch updates to the latest update (which was just released recently) is extremely false.

Here is the official word from Apple regarding the Oxygen feature availability on the Apple Watch:

About Blood Oxygen availability - Apple Support

This explains how to identify your Apple Watch part number:

Identify your Apple Watch - Apple Support

I have an older Ultra watch that I purchased last year; so, it does have the O2 sensor. The problem is that the Blood Oxygen App is no longer available on my watch: it appears that Apple has removed that app for user in the United States. To confirm this, go to Apple's watchOS - Feature Availability - Apple (www.apple.com/watchos/feature-availability), which lists which watchOs features are available by country, and search for "Health: Blood Oxygen App". I found that "United States" was missing in that section, which corroborates why I cannot find the Blood Oxygen app on my watch. It doesn't do me any good if the O2 sensor is on the watch but I cannot use Apple's app to display it.

If that retailer still had inventory then you should be fine. Best Buy for example still has the inventory with the sensor active (the ones with the part number ending in LL/A) although I believe the Starlight option they ran out of and is now listed as the option without the sensor active (LW/A)…at least the 41mm small/medium sport band one. You will know without needing to open the box based on the part number (your order details may also show it).

Based on the news stories, existing Apple Watches in the U.S. will not be affected. And Apple Watches outside the U.S. will not be affected.

ONLY newly purchased Apple Watches, that have to be shipped into the U.S., are supposed to have the O2 sensor disabled.

Your Black Friday Apple Watch, and every Series 6, 7 and 8 Apple Watch should be unaffected.

Of course that is just news stories. After watchOS 10.3 is released, we will actually see what happens to existing Apple Watches.

The ban is on the import of Series 9 and Ultra II models. To bring Series 9 and Ultra II models into the country Apple has to not use the O2 sensor on the models crossing the border.

The ITC only controls what is imported into the country. It has no authority to reach back and affect products already in the country. That would take an act of congress or maybe the Justice Department, and a new lawsuit by Masimo Inc, which they have not done at this moment.

Again, we will not know exactly how Apple will respond until watchOS 10.3 is released. If existing Apple Watches all loose the O2 sensor, then I’m sure some enterprising law firm will file a suit to compensate owners for the loss of a feature they were sold, and no longer have.

But I seriously doubt existing Apple Watches will loose their O2 sensors.

The Masimo, Inc import ban is a way to get Apple to pay royalties to Masimo. Apple will either cave, or find a way to provide O2 sensors without violating the patent.

Yes, I updated my wife’s series 8 watch and the O2 functions as it always has. There is so much disinformation and FUD being spread about this. As has been pointed out the ban ONLY affects the import of new watches, NOT watches already in use.

The only watch models affected by the legal issues are the series 9 and Ultra purchased on or after 1/18/2024, as you know because your series 9 was purchased 1/16/2024and the O2 app works as advertised. The series 8 is no longer being sold new by Apple but some retailers may still have stock. In either event the series 8 is not affected. My wife’s series 8 was updated to watchOS 10.4 the day it was released and the O2 app is there and functioning fine as always. Also if retailers had series 9 and Ultra models in stock before the ban they can sell them and the O2 function works. The current ban is NOT retroactive.

No one said you were making it up but you stated something definitive that is not true. The update did not disable the app for all Series 9 and Ultra 2s. That was not true. You still won’t acknowledge that fact. Apple (not a call center person you spoke with that more likely than not works for a 3rd party company that Apple contracts and would not have info that Apple has not officially disclosed….check Apple’s news on their website and if you find where Apple themselves have officially stated the latest update was supposed to disable the feature for ALL series 9 and Ultra 2 devices please share it. Not an article or statement from a popular tech site but from Apple) has not to date stated that. Apple has however stated which devices do not have the feature on their website (I provided the statement that was copied and pasted from their official website). It specifically says the way to identify which devices within the series 9 and Ultra 2 range is affected. Since you said you returned your series 9 it’s not possible for you to check if you may have received one ending in the LW/A like Apple stated which may have explained why you didn’t have your feature but that’s a possibility.

And no, the 02 sensor in the Series 9 is not different than it was in the Series 6-8. Also I think you don’t completely understand what the ban is. It’s not the physical sensor itself. It is the patent infringement of using technical information and confidential trade secrets that Masimo believes obtained by hiring engineers and scientists that used to work for the company…using their knowledge and experience working on the project and others with Masimo to help develop Apple’s version. This lawsuit started well before the Series 9/Ultra 2 (it was initially filed back in 2020. The public just didn’t know about it until the ban was initially handed down). They successfully sued another company which was started by one of their former employees that had left them and briefly worked for Apple because he used the knowledge and skills he had obtained working for Masimo to create his business. He left Apple before the Series 6 with the O2 sensor was released but worked heavily on its development (Apple disputes that he and others that used to work for Masimo ever worked on the creation of the products or features). Ultimately the argument that Masimo has is that Apple copied their technology because they used info former employees had access to in creating their own. Point is….that lawsuit started after the Series 6 was released because it was the first Apple Watch to have the feature. That is a relatively brief explanation of the whole saga but you got it wrong in the belief that the sensor is new and different in the Series 9/U2. It’s not. The only differences in the series 7 you said you have and the 9 is Crash Detection, Adv Cycle Tracking including temp sensing (the 7 does tracking without temp), On-Device Siri, Double Tap, Siri+Health, Precision finding , the better chip, brighter screen from 1000 to 2000 nits, the 5.3 Bluetooth vs 5.0, and Storage bump from 32GB to 64GB. The O2 sensor was not updated so if that was the only reason you updated to the Series 9 you were unfortunately doing it based on inaccurate info.

At any rate, it’s probably pointless to keep trying to provide info and clarity to this because you keep focusing on what you believe to be true and complete fact yet refusing to take in the facts that have been presented to you that simply shows that every Series 9 and U2 did not lose the feature after the latest update like you claimed. For whatever reason you refuse to accept or acknowledge that you claiming it did and will happen to every single Series 9 and U2 is not true. Thankfully you still have your previous watch and still have the only feature that you initially upgraded to the 9 for. That’s all that matters when it comes to your personal needs/wants.

lkrupp wrote:

Yes, I updated my wife’s series 8 watch and the O2 functions as it always has. There is so much disinformation and FUD being spread about this. As has been pointed out the ban ONLY affects the import of new watches, NOT watches already in use.

Apple - Legal - Sales Policies - U.S. Retail Sales

Every Apple Watch is imported to the US. There is no such thing as a domestically made Apple Watch in the US. That’s number 1. Number 2….my Series 9, the others in my household, the Ultra 2 in my household and every person I know in real life that purchased their watch before 1/18/24 continues to have their feature. This is including after this weeks release of WatchOS 10.3. So again, for you to say that ALL watches including all that were purchased before 1/18/24 loss the feature with the update is absolutely false.

If you get your watch repaired, regardless of model, they will remove the feature.