What is the Apple Watch ban and how can it be resolved?
A legal dispute threatened the sale of the latest Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the USA. Now it seems that the Cupertino corporation has a plan to overcome this problem.
This article was updated on January 17, 2024.
To overcome the ban on the sale of Apple Watch with the function of concentration of oxygen in the bloodstream, Apple decided to change the design of its smart watches. According to a federal court filing dated January 15, 2024, reported by ABC, Apple is ready to release Apple Watches in the future without the pulse oximeter scanner that measures the oxygen concentration in the blood stream
Previously, Apple decided not to wait until December 25, 2023, when the ban came into force, and a few days before the ban began, it stopped selling a number of Apple Watch models in its stores in the US. The decision applied to the latest Series 9 and Ultra 2 models, as well as the special Apple Watch Nike and Apple Watch Hermès models. However, sales of these models soon resumed, as on December 27, 2023, a federal appeals court temporarily lifted this ban, granting Apple's petition.
Can I buy Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the USA?
Currently, Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 with the pulse oximeter can still be purchased in the United States.
What caused the ban on some Apple Watch models?
All of the above models include the function of measuring blood oxygen. It was this feature that became the problem for all these gadgets: the US International Trade Commission decided that adding this function to Apple watches violated two patents for medical technologies owned by the Californian company Masimo Corp.
If information about Apple's decision to remove the medical scanner from the Apple Watch is finally confirmed, a workaround will be found to resolve the tensions. "Apple's claim that its redesigned watch does not contain pulse oximetry is a positive step toward accountability," said a Masimo spokesperson.