The saga of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 has not come to an end. After a temporary suspension of the sales ban at the end of 2023, Apple’s last two connected watches have once again been banned from sale and import across the Atlantic. The Californian company still found a solution to bypass this, but to the detriment of measuring the oxygen level in the blood.
Apple sacrifices a Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 function
On January 17, 2024, the US Federal Court of Appeals refused Apple the extension of the suspension of the ban on the sale of its Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2.
The Apple firm was thus obliged to once again withdraw its last two models from sale, this Thursday, January 18 from 11 a.m., in order to respect the decision of the International Trade Commission (ITC) dating back to October last.
However, Apple had more than one trick up its sleeve to override this more than restrictive ban, which as a reminder is linked to a patent violation concerning the technology for measuring the blood oxygenation rate (SpO2).
The official Apple store now mentions that “Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 no longer include the blood oxygen function”. As a result, Apple is removing the problematic functionality from these two models to continue selling them in the US.
For people who purchased the latest Apple Watches before this Thursday, the blood oxygen level measurement function remains available. For new buyers, the Blood Oxygen app is still there, but links to the Health app, then a support page explaining the situation.
From the American media, such as The VergeApple said through its spokesperson Nikki Rothberg: “Pending the appeal decision, Apple is taking steps to comply with the decision [de l’ITC] while ensuring that customers have access to Apple Watches without too much disruption. These measures include introducing a version of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States without the blood oxygen feature..