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My question now as a pre-ban watch owner - do I have to stop updates in order to prevent my oxygen sensor from being disabled?
 
I’m not in the USA, but can someone try reinstalling one of these watches, using the dfu method, with a vpn in place, using an ipsw file that is readily available.
 
This is what happens when you poach employees from other companies and they use their proprietary knowledge to improve your products.
This is what happen in a country where patent troll are ruling (even if they aren’t, they acting like one here). Apple didn’t “poach” employees. They just offered better terms. Employees don’t belong to an employer. They are free to move as they wish
 
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In 2015, iFixit noted that the heart rate sensor was capable of acting as a pulse oximeter.

 
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My question now as a pre-ban watch owner - do I have to stop updates in order to prevent my oxygen sensor from being disabled?
It would seem that all apple is doing is invalidating the O2 APP on the devices now sold going forward in the USA. I’m sure they did not re-engineer the device without the red light sensor. WAY too much engineering. And, since all watches sold NOT in the USA will continue to “have” the O2 sensor AND APP ACCESS, it would seem that they are going to deprecate the APP ACCESS for watches with certain S/N, or users in USA?

It’s a bit of a software update management MESS, but not untenable. and, for apple at least, at some point if they can win in court or work out a deal with Massimo, then they can simply re-enable it with an update.
 
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Assuming the above is true, the way Apple is letting this play out puts Masimo in a quite perilous position. This could end up very costly, even ruinous, for Masimo.

The real battle is still far from over.
So what you are trying to say is Apple will utilise its way bigger coffer to choke out and kill Masimo should patents involved in this debacle be deemed invalid?
 
My question now as a pre-ban watch owner - do I have to stop updates in order to prevent my oxygen sensor from being disabled?

The ITC ruling only affects imports, not what is already here. The affected watches wouldn't even be banned if they were manufactured in the USA.
 
It feels like if they are removing a feature though the price should reflect that. Or maybe since they have "Freedom" they should now charge MORE for it without the O2 sensor lol.

Companies set prices based on what they think the customer will pay and provide the desired margin. If customers balk they can lower prices, if not there is no business reason to lower them.
 
Doesn't matter what they think, court found in favor of Masimo
Until the appeals are completed, all the way to the highest court, the courts have not fully decided. One court yes, another court no, and so on up the court food chain. There have been many cases where a higher court disagreed with a lower court and a finding was reversed.

For us mere mortals a lower court, as in "Bucky" the town lawyer, volunteer firefighter, school crossing guard and part time court judge, that is about as high as we get. For companies with billions they can move up the chain of courts.
 
My question now as a pre-ban watch owner - do I have to stop updates in order to prevent my oxygen sensor from being disabled?
No, update as normal. For now. Who knows what will happen in the future. If Apple were to retroactively remove a feature there would be screams from millions of people. I don't see that happening and reports indicate this will not happen.
 
I believe they have stopped signing the App in Models ending in LW/A.
So why bother with issuing a new part number then? Which means replacing the whole existing inventory and boxes? Couldn't they simply check based on the date of first activation of the watch S/N with Apple Servers?

By inferring on this logic, I'm guessing if you're doing a bit of digging at a Best Buy & al. today, you can find some 'old' Ultra/S9 boxes without the LW/A?
 
I honestly don’t think so. The fallout from this will be fairly minimal, IMO. Disable the feature first to get around the import ban and buy time while Apple continues to work on a technical workaround.

iPhone users will likely continue to get an Apple Watch because that’s the best smartwatch which works with an iPhone, even without a blood oxygen sensor.

Meanwhile, either wait out the patent (March 2028), or continue to try and prove that the patents held by Masimo have zero merit.

If Apple succeeds, which I think they believe they will, in getting all of Masimo’s claims invalidated some time later in 2024, Masimo will face a potentially massive claim for lost revenue from Apple due to the ITC ban. Masimo’s CEO’s surprise and dismay at Apple’s announcement to stop selling the watches tells the story, in my opinion.

Assuming the above is true, the way Apple is letting this play out puts Masimo in a quite perilous position. This could end up very costly, even ruinous, for Masimo.

The real battle is still far from over.
How do you figure this to be ruinous to Masimo? Masimo is a company primarily focused on selling medical grade monitors to hospitals and their SpO2 technology is second to none. I should know - I have used it extensively in my practice. They also have some very good emerging technology such as SpHb which allows for monitoring of hemoglobin levels (aka blood count level) in real time, incredibly useful during surgical cases. Any wearable device they have produced is at best a hobby currently and in no way competition to the Apple Watch. Masimo will be just fine. Apple should probably pay up and license their technology legally.
 
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So what you are trying to say is Apple will utilise its way bigger coffer to choke out and kill Masimo should patents involved in this debacle be deemed invalid?

All I am saying is that this battle is far from over, and said ban, even if it is upheld, is not the death knell for the Apple Watch that so many people here are making it out to be.
 
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I’m not in the USA, but can someone try reinstalling one of these watches, using the dfu method, with a vpn in place, using an ipsw file that is readily available.
You can't do this with the watch since there is no port. It has already been mentioned in other articles that Apple is shipping a modified version to the USA. The software is likely checking to see what hardware version it's running on.
 
Predicting one of there possible futures for this. One, a settled amount and a reinstatement of the functionality. Two, a software update that moves far away enough from the patent that it becomes gray area and allowed. Or three, ultimately Apple will work around the technology with their own method of reading, revolutionize the practice out of spite, and patent what they develop lol. Number 2 is not likely or we would have seen it. This will get interesting for sure.
 
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All I am saying is that this battle is far from over, and said ban, even if it is upheld, is not the death knell for the Apple Watch that so many people here are making it out to be.
Agree 100%. Any time another company has tried to block Apple, they simply reinvent the wheel and often do it better (and with their own patents). I mean, look at all the competitors chasing the M series of Apple Silicon. Many are trying to keep up with M1/M2, and meanwhile we hear rumors of M5, M6, etc. The doom and gloom makes me laugh. Always an up and down cycle and we are all just passengers on the roller coaster.
 
I don’t know how much of this is out of their control or not but Apple looks really stupid in all of this.
You may think it’s stupid but according to what I have read from trusted pundits Apple sincerely thinks it has been shafted by the ITC and the patent lawsuit brought by Masimo. Apparently, Apple is willing to fight to the bitter end on this. They fought Qualcomm to the bitter end before entering an agreement. They fought Epic to the bitter end and won 9 out 10 claims.

History tells us that patent fights can be long and expensive. There was a huge patent fight over who invented the telephone. Alexander Graham Bell eventually won but many thought the other guy, Elisha Gray, had valid arguments. That case went to the Supreme Court in 1888 to be settled. I suspect they will be willing to go all the way too.

Finally, let’s say they wind up licensing from Masimo and up the price to cover the cost of that license. These forums will explode with rage.
 
Surely the cost to their reputation is more than the cost of the patent?
Reputation? Pfffft. That only matters in tech blog comment forums. I remind you of all the so-called “gates” that were supposed to take their reputation down. Again, didn’t happen in the real world, just tech blog forums.
 
Someone told me the different model numbers without the feature cant have it activated later. Would like to know more about this.
It's the same watch; it is no different than when they turn features on in other countries at different times.
 
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