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Apple resorts to drastic measure to keep Apple Watch on sale
In This Article
Apple has been forced to modify its latest Apple Watch smartwatches in order to avoid asales banin the United States.
The company is removing the blood oxygen app from theApple Watch Series 9andApple Watch Ultra 2, sacrificing one of its key health tracking features to keep the flagship wearables on sale.
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Although the feature loss is a major blow, it allows Apple to get around an import ban from the US International Trade Commission pertaining to a patent dispute with the medical device manufacturer Masimo.
The US customs and border agency introduced the ban, but according to Masimo itself (viaBloomberg), the agency has “decided that Apple’s redesign falls outside the scope” of the ban.
Masimo had claimed any software changes would not get be able to get around the ban, but removing the feature completely is a drastic measure that shows the level of strife Apple faced on this issue.
Fortunately for the company, the update only applies to watches sold in the United States, but this could still end up costing the company a significant amount of cash.
The blood oxygen feature for the Apple Watch Ultra Series 2 is likely to be a major part of the purchasing decision for some serious fitness and endurance sports enthusiasts. The watch starts at $799, and there are powerful watches available for much less that can measure blood oxygen.
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Chris Smith is a freelance technology journalist for a host of UK tech publications, including Trusted Reviews. He’s based in South Florida, USA. …
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Founded in 2003, Trusted Reviews exists to give our readers thorough, unbiased and independent advice on what to buy.
Today, we have millions of users a month from around the world, and assess more than 1,000 products a year.
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
