same here. The ban was for S9 and Ultra 2 specifically starting some day in Jan 2024, every model sold before that date was NOT impacted
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Series 10 Blood Oxygen Sensor
- Thread starter manhattanmania
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Why? The feature is not that accurate, so you're never going to be using it to closely monitor accurate blood O2. Like most Apple Watch features, the most it can do is show you trends if there is a major change in your readings over a period of days or weeks. And its arguable that a major change in blood O2 trend is going to be noticed by you long before your watch or the Health app brings it to your attention.
I just looked in my Health app and it says over the past week the range for my blood oxygen was 93-99%. If it was really accurate and I have no health issues shouldn’t it be closer to 99% all the time?
Yes, and it probably is. Mine routinely shows between 90% and 100%. That's basically its margin of error.
It is there. Try incognito mode. I found that when I clicked on an international store it didn’t actually change.
This is the UK version of the website:
I get that but I figure it would help with sleep apnea detection (along with the accelerometer). Plus Apple sees a benefit in it or else they would have removed it from the Apple Watch 10 across the globe.
When I got long covid my oxygen went from 95+ to the low 90’s or high 80’s before I put myself in the hospital. I hate doctors and hospitals but know I needed help.
That’s a great point. And if you all don’t know, serious oxygen finger-clip style sensors have fallen drastically in price. I bought the Braun YK-81CEU for just €22 and it works great.
You can easily tell if it's the US or UK store by how they spell aluminium (UK) / aluminum (US) lol
If you bought it in Canada/Mexico you would be fine, but the European/Asian Cellular Apple Watch do support different LTE bands than the North American model. Specifically, they're missing the 700mhz frequency (LTE Bands 12-17) which would significantly degrade the cellular performance. The low range spectrum is partly the reason why Verizon/AT&T had superior rural coverage in the 4G era.
Apple Watch - Carriers - Apple
Come on Apple, I want to upgrade from my Series 6, but I use the Blood Oxygen app all the time. Make the deal!
I have the beta of iOS 18 on my phone and iOS 11 on my S7 watch and O2 sensing still works FYI.
I was strongly considering getting a S10 but honestly I just snagged a SS Series 8 for 199 last week in that Walmart sale and I’m completely happy with it. I like the idea of the larger screen, faster charging etc but not enough to pay full price for a new model that lacks a significant feature I rely on for cardio tracking.
I noticed in the keynote that they did not mention it, and that the Vitals app in the renders has the blood oxygen metrics absent from it. Btw most of the talking points in the Keynote presentation from Apple are mostly intended for the people in the United States. 🇺🇸
I have a S6 and older Apple Watch models in the US (Series 6 to 8) are not affected. As long there is no LW/A on the model number.
Good check on lung and heart functioning — during exercise, regular activities, and for general health.
As we age, those become even more important. In an era of resurgent COVID, oxygen levels are useful. Blood oxygen monitoring is also key to sleep apnea detection which affects people of all ages.
The Watch via the iPhone also provides a VO2 Max measure which gives feedback on your cardio fitness — and whether you are pushing yourself sufficiently while exercising.
In fact, medical researchers have confirmed that it is quite accurate. The problem from my reading of the research is that it slightly under-states oxygen levels at high levels (mid-to-upper 90s) while overstating it at lower levels (high 80s and low 90s). That is the exact opposite of what one would want, but it still provides a relatively close and fairly useful gauge.
See, e.g.,
“Accuracy of the Apple Watch Oxygen Saturation Measurement in Adults: A Systematic Review”
Accuracy of the Apple Watch Oxygen Saturation Measurement in Adults: A Systematic Review - PMC
The purpose of this review is to summarize the research on the accuracy of oxygen saturation (spO2) measurements using the Apple Watch (Apple Inc., Cupertino, California). The Medline and Google Scholar databases were searched for papers evaluating ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
“Study finds Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor is as reliable as ‘medical-grade device’”
How reliable is the Apple Watch's blood oxygen sensor?
A new validation study published this month puts the blood oxygen feature of the Apple Watch to the test. According...
9to5mac.com
so this is the first year that I didn't get the new apple watch on the first day I can order specifically because of this. I go to colorado 3 times a year and while I don't need realtime pulse ox, i like to see what it is when i'm sleeping and of course during the trips. It does drop significantly.
I am probably an edge case though but I'm not going to get a new watch with less functionality on something I use pretty regularly. at least as much as I use speakers on the apple watch.
and the way it happens is I buy the new one and my old ones get handed down to my family. In fact all of them are still working but apparently the apple watch 1 doesn't hold much of a charge anymore.
Oh well apple, I hope you either get the court case settled quickly, or you buy some other tech to put in the watch but no sale for me at this point.
I am probably an edge case though but I'm not going to get a new watch with less functionality on something I use pretty regularly. at least as much as I use speakers on the apple watch.
and the way it happens is I buy the new one and my old ones get handed down to my family. In fact all of them are still working but apparently the apple watch 1 doesn't hold much of a charge anymore.
Oh well apple, I hope you either get the court case settled quickly, or you buy some other tech to put in the watch but no sale for me at this point.
Depends on the LTE band(s) your carrier uses. The models largely overlap but have some difference.
See https://www.apple.com/watch/cellular/#table-apple-watch
Not sure BO is required for VO2 estimation. Garmin devices have been doing VO2max estimates for years without BO measurement.
Not needed. It goes by your HRV when on outdoor walks/hike/run workouts. Requires an AW S4 and later.
Good check on lung and heart functioning — during exercise, regular activities, and for general health.
As we age, those become even more important. In an era of resurgent COVID, oxygen levels are useful. Blood oxygen monitoring is also key to sleep apnea detection which affects people of all ages.
The Watch via the iPhone also provides a VO2 Max measure which gives feedback on your cardio fitness — and whether you are pushing yourself sufficiently while exercising.
In fact, medical researchers have confirmed that it is quite accurate. The problem from my reading of the research is that it slightly under-states oxygen levels at high levels (mid-to-upper 90s) while overstating it at lower levels (high 80s and low 90s). That is the exact opposite of what one would want, but it still provides a relatively close and fairly useful gauge.
See, e.g.,
“Accuracy of the Apple Watch Oxygen Saturation Measurement in Adults: A Systematic Review”
Accuracy of the Apple Watch Oxygen Saturation Measurement in Adults: A Systematic Review - PMC
The purpose of this review is to summarize the research on the accuracy of oxygen saturation (spO2) measurements using the Apple Watch (Apple Inc., Cupertino, California). The Medline and Google Scholar databases were searched for papers evaluating ...
“Study finds Apple Watch blood oxygen sensor is as reliable as ‘medical-grade device’”
How reliable is the Apple Watch's blood oxygen sensor?
A new validation study published this month puts the blood oxygen feature of the Apple Watch to the test. According...
One thing that needs to be made clear, the oxygen sensor is accurate but mostly when you manually initiate the reading. The automatic readings the watch takes every few hours can be hugely inaccurate because the sensor does need you to be still in order to work as it’s supposed to. The watch will attempt a reading when you’re still but if you move for any reason while it’s doing so you’ll ruin the results. I’ve had readings as low as 70% because of this.
US Specs say Blood Oxygen app is missing not sensor. Also the Maximo patent expires in 2028. But I still agree with others that Apple should have paid to offer the feature