American Apple Watch owners can anticipate a significant health enhancement soon
Apple has reintroduced the blood oxygen monitoring feature on its Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 models, following a legal workaround that addresses patent infringement issues.
The new approach shifts the computational workload from the watch to the paired iPhone, enabling Apple to restore the feature on affected US devices. This workaround only applies to US users who did not have the legacy feature. Users outside the US can still access the feature directly from their Apple Watch.
The Apple Watch sensor captures raw blood oxygen data, which is then sent to the iPhone for processing. The iPhone downloads wireless assets, performs the measurement and calculation of blood oxygen saturation, and displays the results in the Health app on the iPhone under the Respiratory category.
To access the redesigned blood oxygen monitoring feature, users need to update their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1 and their paired iPhone to iOS 18.6.1. The feature is available on the Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 models.
The blood oxygen monitoring feature was previously pulled due to legal issues. This workaround is a result of a recent US customs ruling and a solution to the long-running patent dispute with health tech firm Masimo. The legal proceedings regarding the feature are ongoing for US users.
Apple continues to offer other health features such as ECG, irregular rhythm notifications, sleep apnea notifications, fall detection, and more on these models. The company has also redesigned the blood oxygen monitoring feature for US users.
Despite these changes, it's worth noting that the feature may work directly on the Apple Watch for US users in the future. For now, US users can only view their blood oxygen results on a connected iPhone.
[1] Apple Support: Blood Oxygen App on Apple Watch
[3] The Verge: Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor: How it works
[4] CNET: Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor: How it works
[5] TechCrunch: Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor: How it works
[1] Simultaneously advancing health-and-wellness and fitness-and-exercise, Apple has reintroduced the blood oxygen monitoring feature on its Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 models, leveraging technology to address patent infringement issues.
[3] As mental health is an essential aspect of overall health, this feature now sends the raw blood oxygen data from the Apple Watch sensor to the paired iPhone for processing, using technology to aid in health monitoring and wellness.
