Following the long prohibition on Watch models, Apple will now start selling Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 models without the Blood Oxygen feature in the U.S. Notably, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) last year ordered an import and sales ban on Apple Watch models with blood oxygen sensing.
Apple was denied a longer-term stay, however, and the ban is set to be reinstated today starting at 2 p.m. Pacific Time. However, Apple has to disable the blood oxygen sensing feature on new U.S. models to comply with the ruling and ensure that customers have access to the Apple Watch with limited disruption.
It means Apple didn’t remove the feature from the Watch 9 Series and Watch 2 Ultra models, but when a user opens a blood oxygen feature in the US, they will be shown an alert saying that the app is no longer available, and directed to the Health app on the iPhone, which is quite disappointing for them.
However, the Blood Oxygen app will remain functional on previously sold Series 9 and Ultra 2 models and will work well on Apple Watch models sold outside the U.S., as the sales ban does not apply internationally.
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