Does the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 include an Oxygen Sensor?

Good question. I have compared readings to a finger sensor, as well as what I get from my doctor and the readings are always near identical.

What country are you in?

Jeff Donald wrote:

Truthfully, the blood oxygen feature is mostly irrelevant. Why? If you have a condition that requires monitoring, Apple Watch is not FDA approved. You can buy an FDA approved model, and carry it in your pocket or purse, for under $20 on Amazon. If you don’t have a condition that requires monitoring, it’s just a convenience (gimmick?) and shouldn’t really affect your purchasing decision. If it has the sensor, it could in theory, be enable by Apple a time far in the future.

I guess if all depends on your needs, Jeff. I need to monitor my SPO2 at night. This feature allows me to do that. It provides information I can share with my doctor. I do not find it irrelevant but I do understand it may be that for the majority of Apple Watch wearers.

Carol B. wrote:

I guess if all depends on your needs, Jeff. I need to monitor my SPO2 at night. This feature allows me to do that. It provides information I can share with my doctor. I do not find it irrelevant but I do understand it may be that for the majority of Apple Watch wearers.

I think what Jeff was saying is that there are other, better options, not that the need to monitor is irrelevant.

sberman wrote:

One wonders how folks survived at this altitude before watches were capable of monitoring blood oxygen. Perhaps they all wore finger clip pulse oximeters.

Tenzing Norgay never would have made it to the top of Everest without his O2 sensor.....

Pretty sure once you’re in the >Death Zone<, the Watch is just extra weight.

>In mountaineering, the death zone refers to altitudes above which the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span. This point is generally agreed as 8,000 m (26,000 ft).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_zone

😀😀

I hope feet as well! But my reference was in regard to your mention of Tenzing Norgay, who with Sir Edmund Hillary were the first to climb Mt. Everest (29,028 ft).

Not to sure how the Inca ever built Machu Picchu in the 1400’s without their Apple Watches. Maybe aliens actually built Machu Picchu. 😂

jrp11 wrote:

I disagree as well. I have the Watch 7, which still has the oxygen sensor, and have found it to be quite accurate

How do you know how accurate it is? What other device are you using at the same time to generate comparison data?

ShaylynnH wrote:

The oximeter is extremely important for me who has a lung disease if I’m away from home and cannot readily check my blood oxygen I rely on my Apple Watch and my Apple Watch is always 100% accurate to the hospitals equipment. I would upgrade my watch if the watch 10 activate that sensor.

You can get standalone oximeters that even sync to Health.

Cervidil17 wrote:

I purchased an Apple watch 10 and the Blood Oxygen sensor was working as recently as August 2024 when I had Covid, now it does not work.🤷‍♀️

If you are in the U.S. the Series 10 does not support the O2 sensor as per Court Order.

I am emailing you to tell you my story, one night I was out and was celebrating my one year sobriety and was shot 11 times. I was saved by my Apple Watch by calling the cops and I was rescued. I’m sending this to say thank you and if there’s anything I can do to help others like me would be an amazing thing with apple. Thanks for reading this!

my thoughts on the Apple Watch O2 sensor it’s good for trending and on the spot measurements for oxygen saturation is very accurate compared to hospital grade oximeters . For apple to introduce a sleep apnea app after they are required to disable their O2 sensor on the watch is ridiculous.

If the sensor is there, then why doesn't Masimo just charge for an application on the Apple Store which enables the sensor? I would probably pay another $50 (and maybe $50 a year) just to have the feature to get my VO2 number. People are correct that the pulse oxygen is probably unreliable, but the pulse oxygen over time and VO2 are valuable. Masimo is losing out on a huge opportunity here.

gdaustin wrote:

If the sensor is there, then why doesn't Masimo just charge for an application on the Apple Store which enables the sensor? I would probably pay another $50 (and maybe $50 a year) just to have the feature to get my VO2 number. People are correct that the pulse oxygen is probably unreliable, but the pulse oxygen over time and VO2 are valuable. Masimo is losing out on a huge opportunity here.

I suspect they were hoping Apple would pay them truckloads of money for the rights to use it.

The 2 or 3 patents that were ruled Apple infringed on expire in 2028. No other country or region in the rest of the world is trying to impose the same restrictions.

There’s a lengthy political discussion that could take place at this juncture, but community rules, prohibit such discussions so I’ll leave it at that.