Blood oxygen detection won’t be available on Apple Watch Series 10 in the U.S.

Apple Watch Blood Oxygen sensor and app measure the oxygen saturation of blood so users can better understand their overall fitness and wellness.

Apple’s Blood Oxygen app can allow you to measure the oxygen level of your blood on-demand directly from your Apple Watch, providing you with insights into your overall wellness. However, due to a legal dispute, the Blood Oxygen app is only available in certain countries and regions and is supported on Apple Watch Series 6 and later, and any model of Ultra, with some restrictions on watches purchased in the United States.

The blood oxygen feature, introduced with the Apple Watch Series 6, will not be present on Series 10 models sold in the U.S. However, the rest of the world will be able to access the health feature on the new watch.

Brian Heater for TechCrunch:

The feature’s exclusion is a product of Apple’s ongoing patent battle with medical device company Masimo. The dispute forced Apple to disable the feature on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 late last year.

Apple has not discussed whether the feature’s removal was a hardware change on the Series 10 or if it was simply disabled via the software, like with the Series 9. We’ll know more after the smartwatch goes on sale and the teardown experts do their thing. If it’s a hardware fix, then Apple would have had to design slightly different models for each market.


MacDailyNews Take: We highly suspect that Apple Watch’s blood oxygen feature simply disabled in software and when/if the Masimo debacle is settled, it will be turned back on for American Apple Watch users.

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