Apple Restores US Blood Oxygen Readings Calculated on iPhone

Apple has announced the return of blood oxygen monitoring for certain Apple Watch models in the United States through a redesigned system that routes measurements to the paired iPhone for processing. The feature, available through a software update to iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1, will apply to the Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 in the US. After the update, readings will be calculated on the iPhone and displayed in the Health app’s Respiratory section. Apple stressed that there will be no impact on devices that already included the original Blood Oxygen feature or on watches purchased outside the United States.

The updated approach marks a return of a health tool that was pulled from US models following a long-running patent dispute with Masimo. The dispute culminated in an import ban in December 2023 that blocked sales of watches with the blood oxygen sensor in the US. Apple subsequently paused sales in early 2024 and resumed without the feature, citing the ban as the reason for the change. The latest update enables the feature again, but in a redesigned form that complies with the regulatory ruling that has governed imports.

Under the redesigned system, the...