Apple is set to bring back the Blood Oxygen feature to some Apple Watch owners in the U.S., but it’s not the same version as before. The move comes as part of a workaround to avoid a patent dispute with medical device maker Masimo, which previously led to an import ban on certain models.
Starting later today, owners of select Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 units that currently lack the feature can get it by updating their iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1. The redesigned system shifts the processing from the watch to the paired iPhone, with results viewable in the Respiratory section of the Health app.
This method was cleared by a recent U.S. Customs ruling, giving Apple the green light to reintroduce blood oxygen tracking without violating the contested patents. Watches that already shipped with the original feature, as well as any purchased outside the U.S., are unaffected.
Apple stressed that the Apple Watch lineup still offers a wide array of health and safety tools, including ECG, irregular rhythm notifications, sleep apnea alerts, fall detection, sleep tracking, wrist temperature sensing, and the Medications and Mindfulness apps.
