Redesigned Blood Oxygen Feature Coming to Apple Watch Due to Resolved Legal Dispute
Apple has announced a redesigned blood oxygen feature for some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users, set to roll out on Thursday. However, this development comes amidst an ongoing legal dispute with medical technology company, Masimo [1].
In August 2021, Masimo and Cercacor Laboratories filed complaints, leading the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) to investigate Apple for alleged patent infringement related to pulse oximetry technology used in Apple Watch health features [1]. In October 2023, the ITC ruled that Apple violated patent protections, resulting in an import ban on Apple Watch models containing the disputed blood oxygen monitoring feature [1][2].
The ban took effect in early 2024, causing Apple to disable the blood oxygen feature on U.S. Apple Watch sales [2]. In a bid to work around this, Apple redesigned the feature so that the watch’s sensor sends raw data to the paired iPhone for processing—thus sidestepping the ITC’s ruling [3][4]. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) approved this redesign in August 2025, enabling Apple to resume shipments with the feature enabled in the U.S. [3].
However, Masimo has challenged CBP’s approval, filing a lawsuit on August 20, 2025, claiming Customs exceeded its authority by bypassing a formal review and undermining the ITC’s import ban [3]. Masimo argues this threatens its patent rights and requests an emergency order to reinstate the original ban requiring full feature disablement. Apple continues to appeal the ITC decision in the Federal Circuit Court, emphasizing the impact on consumers and disputing the scope of the ban [2][3][4].
The dispute remains unresolved, with ongoing appeals and regulatory/legal battles focusing on whether Apple’s workaround sufficiently avoids Masimo’s patent claims and whether the ITC’s authority can be effectively circumvented through CBP’s approval [2][3][4]. This case illustrates complex interactions between patent law enforcement, trade regulations, and competitive technology innovation in the wearable health device market.
Users without the blood oxygen feature can access it by updating their devices to iOS 18.6.1 (iPhone) and watchOS 11.6.1 (Apple Watch). It is currently unclear if Masimo's legal challenge will impact the availability of the redesigned feature.
[1] AppleInsider. (2021). Masimo files complaint against Apple over blood oxygen sensor patents. Retrieved from https://appleinsider.com/articles/21/08/05/masimo-files-complaint-against-apple-over-blood-oxygen-sensor-patents
[2] CNET. (2023). Apple's blood oxygen sensors infringe on Masimo's intellectual property, ITC finds. Retrieved from https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/apples-blood-oxygen-sensors-infringe-on-masimos-intellectual-property-itc-finds/
[3] MacRumors. (2025). Apple's Redesigned Blood Oxygen Feature Approved by U.S. Customs, Allowing for Resumption of Sales. Retrieved from https://www.macrumors.com/2025/08/15/apple-blood-oxygen-feature-approved-by-us-customs/
[4] Reuters. (2025). Masimo challenges U.S. Customs approval of Apple's redesigned blood oxygen feature. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/masimo-challenges-us-customs-approval-apples-redesigned-blood-oxygen-feature-2025-08-20/
In the ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, the technology company contests the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's approval of Apple's redesigned blood oxygen feature, claiming it threatens their patent rights in the health-and-wellness and technology markets. The tech giant argues that this decision has significant implications for consumers and the further development of health-related technology in markets such as science and wearable devices.
