Blood Oxygen Makes a Comeback on Apple Watch in the U.S.

Blood Oxygen Makes a Comeback on Apple Watch in the U.S.

Apple Watch owners in the U.S. are finally getting their Blood Oxygen feature back — but with a twist. Thanks to a new U.S. Customs ruling, Apple has figured out a clever software workaround to restore the feature without running afoul of a long-running patent dispute.

Who’s Getting It

If you own an Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, or Apple Watch Ultra 2 that shipped in the U.S. without Blood Oxygen, you’ll be able to enable it after updating both your watch and iPhone later today:

  • iPhone: iOS 18.6.1

  • Apple Watch: watchOS 11.6.1

How It Works Now

Instead of your watch doing all the work, the redesigned system sends raw sensor data from the watch to your iPhone, where it’s processed. You’ll find the results in the Respiratory section of the Health app. This means the watch hardware is still involved — but the “thinking” happens on the iPhone.

Who’s Not Affected

  • Watches bought before the feature was removed will keep their original Blood Oxygen setup.

  • Watches sold outside the U.S. are unaffected.

The Backstory

Earlier this year, Apple had to pull the feature from U.S. models after the International Trade Commission ruled it infringed on patents from Masimo Corp. With the Biden administration declining to step in, Apple began selling certain models with Blood Oxygen disabled — until now.

Health Features Still Going Strong

Even without Blood Oxygen, Apple Watches have continued to offer:

  • ECG app

  • Irregular rhythm notifications

  • Sleep Apnea notifications

  • Fall Detection

  • Sleep tracking

And now, for U.S. users, Blood Oxygen joins that list once again.

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