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Apple Updates Website to Highlight Removal of Apple Watch Blood Oxygen Feature

bumblebritches5 said:
What precedent would that be?

That Apple can’t rip off billion dollar companies with battle tested patents?

This whole mess is not doing Apple any favors in the public’s consciousness.

they should’ve settled yesterday; they need to settle today.
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Masimo wants $100 per watch. They’re not gonna pay that.

But Masimo is gonna lose both of their watches since they used proprietary data they got during discovery in this case to make their watches and thus violated a ton of patents in the process.

Apple loses a feature. Masimo loses the entire product.
 
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Ismeon said:
What does this mean for people who own the model that has the sensor? Will it stop working for them? My wife has a launch day model of the Series 9. I'm also wondering because of my Ultra Series 1, I love the O2 sensor and use it often when I finish my runs.
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It only will be disabled on models that sell starting today. Yours won't be changing, nor will your wife's.
 
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ahostmadsen said:
Who actually uses the O2 monitor? It is useful in a medical setting, but for most people on daily life?

To me it looks like the feature is there just because it was possible to implement, not because it’s super useful. So, not much is lost.
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I use it many times a day, and often more often when at altitude.. but, I have a rare genetic condition that makes my blood ox low, and sometimes seriously.. historically I always had to get one of my finger Spo2 sensors, but having it on the wrist is much easier.

It’s also very good for overnight O2 sensing. During Covid, most - well many ppl learned that low O2 was a sign of infection.. this applies to nearly ANY infection so going forward O2 sensing, especially in the overnight will be a leading indicator of probable infection, absent any other biological issue.
 
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In some ways this seems like kind of a loss for Masimo. They aren't going to get any licensing fees, and this isn't going to increase their product sales.
 
J___o___h___n said:
Shame Apple isn't doing the right thing here. They should be paying the licence - this is not looking good from a consumers point of view.

Plus, paying the same price but getting less features - that's never good.
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Does apple raise prices when they introduce new features.

As far as not looking good. Let’s monitor the demand and see where this goes. I doubt many Americans are tied up emotionally to this issue.
 
tivoboy said:
I use it many times a day, and often more often when at altitude.. but, I have a rare genetic condition that makes my blood ox low, and sometimes seriously.. historically I always had to get one of my finger Spo2 sensors, but having it on the wrist is much easier.

It’s also very good for overnight O2 sensing. During Covid, most - well many ppl learning that low O2 was a sign of infection.. this applies to nearly ANY infection so going forward O2 sensing, especially in the overnight will be a leading indicator of probable infection, absent any other biological issue.
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No doubt it is useful to some people. But what percentage of people is that? Apple generally does not make products for a niche population. So, I still think it’s mostly there for marketing purposes.
 
This is shocking never thought Apple would go as far as removing a big feature from a Hero device (what we call Big Products at Apple). I would of thought theyd settle with a monetary amount with the company or buy the company to own the technology.

Honestly this will affect my decision making on purchasing a new Apple Watch. I use this feature and think its important.
 
JCCL said:
That's not the same though. It is expected a NEW model (for example, a Series 6 that was the first to have oximeter) would offer new features, otherwise why would anyone upgrade their older model? Here, it is the same model (Ultra 2 or Series 9) with one less feature than units of the same model that you could buy yesterday.
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I understand that, but this is one small part of the watch’s functionality. It’s not like they’re disabling half the functions.
 
CloneBB said:
99% of the “public” are oblivious to this issue.
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Really?

Huh.

It's been on the news here in the UK… and not just once.

So while it may not matter for many, I'd hardly say the public are oblivious.

Apple is a very large corporation and whether it is good or bad, Apple is always news.

Besides, who doesn't like a bit of schadenfreude?
 
Pezimak said:
Well when you deliberately poach employees with a goal to steal someone else’s tech and idea, patented idea, that you know full well is patented, this is what tends to happen.
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You can't patent an idea.

You're not allowed to have trade secrets for a patent. Everything has do be documented in the patent to be considered part of the patent.
 
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Meatwad said:
Masimo wants $100 per watch. They’re not gonna pay that.

But Masimo is gonna lose both of their watches since they used proprietary data they got during discovery in this case to make their watches and thus violated a ton of patents in the process.

Apple loses a feature. Masimo loses the entire product.
Click to expand...
Yeah I think some of the people saying Apple should just "pay up" don't actually realize how much Masimo wanted for each and every watch. While I don't know what an "appropriate" amount would be...the amount they want sounds crazy. I mean come on. If you go for the cheapest Series 9...what Masimo wants...comes out to a QUARTER of the total price of the watch (not factoring in tax).

Did Apple screw up here? Plenty of ways to say yes, no doubt about that! But the amount Masimo wants...yikes.
 
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Blood oxygen measuring was released on the Apple Watch with huge hype and much whooping and high five-ing… both from Apple, Inc and here at MacRumours.

Now that it is a problem for Apple, revealing the behemoth as an unscrupulous wheeler dealer, suddenly many on these forums have changed their tune.

*sigh* Human nature, eh? 🙂


tivoboy said:
I use it many times a day, and often more often when at altitude.. but, I have a rare genetic condition that makes my blood ox low, and sometimes seriously.. historically I always had to get one of my finger Spo2 sensors, but having it on the wrist is much easier.

It’s also very good for overnight O2 sensing. During Covid, most - well many ppl learning that low O2 was a sign of infection.. this applies to nearly ANY infection so going forward O2 sensing, especially in the overnight will be a leading indicator of probable infection, absent any other biological issue.
Click to expand...
👍
 
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DMG35 said:
Oh you don't say :rolleyes:

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.
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Well, maybe you're missing something?

My explanation can explain a lot.

1. Apple keeps the price the same. Why?

Freedom. Apple can deicide the price themselves.

2. Apple reduces the price. Why?

Freedom. Apple can deicide the price themselves.

3. Apple increase the price. Why?

Freedom. Apple can deicide the price themselves.
 
oldwatery said:
Pretty scummy of the largest company on the planet to behave like this. Cook might be a financial genius but he is sucking the life blood out of this company.
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At least Masimo can use their devices to measure the oxygen content while they're being sucked dry.
 
Laugh in Europe where we always have “Apple Tax” 😎
Preparing popcorn on next AW release - if they make 2 versions: USA only and Rest of the World.

Correct me but that’s first time ever that USA, homeland of Apple, is having less features than the rest of the World 🤡
 
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