Apple to introduce redesigned Blood Oxygen feature for Apple Watch in the US today

Apple announced that later today, a new software update will roll out a redesigned Blood Oxygen feature for select Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 models in the United States.

The relaunch follows Apple’s removal of blood oxygen monitoring from US models last year, after losing a patent dispute with Masimo, a US-based medical technology company. Masimo accused Apple of infringing on patents related to blood oxygen sensing, a feature first introduced with the Apple Watch Series 6 in 2020. That feature allowed users to check their blood oxygen saturation levels, typically ranging from 95% to 100%.

In the updated system, users in the US who currently lack access to the Blood Oxygen app will regain it by updating their paired iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1. Under the new design, the Apple Watch will still gather raw sensor data, but the calculations will be performed on the paired iPhone. Results will then appear in the Respiratory section of the Health app. This approach complies with a recent US Customs ruling.

To avoid an import ban that could have blocked sales of Apple Watch models with blood oxygen hardware, Apple removed the feature last year. The redesigned version now lets Apple resume offering the functionality while staying within legal limits.