Series 10 Blood Oxygen Sensor

[MikeDr206]

My comment was in context of the thread - your post was immediately after someone's concern about blood-ox being disabled if the watch is initialized in the US and, as @Howard2k wrote, you seemed to suggest you would ship your watch to your friend in Canada to set it up before shipping it back to the US

I’m not 100% sure if this would work. I’m a patent attorney… the ITC ruling is an import ban. So watches imported into the US are affected. Buying a watch in the US and shipping it to a friend in Canada to activate shouldn’t help, because the watch was imported into the US.

By the same token, buying it in Canada and activating in the US *should* work, and is what I’m planning on doing in 2025…

 

[Beau10]

Not to mention the unknowns of getting warranty or applecare service in the US on a model purchased elsewhere. Anyone have direct experience getting service on a CA or MX model in the US?

I believe it should be fine anywhere in the world as long as Apple has a presence. The only thing that changes is you have to abide by the terms of the country you have service in.

For instance, for my US purchased M3 Max, I had an accident requiring top case replacement in Paris. Paid nothing as the law disallows extra fees for comprehensive insurance, or at least that's what was explained by the genius. In the US I would have had to pay an extra $99.

 

[xenoako]

Not to mention the unknowns of getting warranty or applecare service in the US on a model purchased elsewhere. Anyone have direct experience getting service on a CA or MX model in the US?

I believe I read the patents expire in 2028, so from a business perspective Apple may be considering how many US sales they'll realistically lose between now and then vs the cost to capitulate and license the technology.

I get the principle of the matter, but am also curious as to what actionable information people are gaining from the sensor and what they then do with that information?

I noted upthread being a DVT/PE patient who suffered lung damage that I must monitor OX daily. Since I travel it is not always convenient to carry a pulse oximeter with me at all times so the constant monitoring of the AW is critical.

 

[Momof2.1107]

I noted upthread being a DVT/PE patient who suffered lung damage that I must monitor OX daily. Since I travel it is not always convenient to carry a pulse oximeter with me at all times so the constant monitoring of the AW is critical.

I’m a PE survivor as well, and the pulse oximetry is crucial for me to monitor my oxygen daily. I wear a Wellue O2 ring at bedtime to vibrate when my oxygen drops below 90. It causes me to stir in my sleep which brings my oxygen back up and I start breathing again. When it’s time to replace the battery in my AWU1, I plan to either buy an Oura ring to wear alongside my watch, or plan a weekend trip to Canada and purchase whichever new Apple Watch Ultra is released.

 

[Jarrodbcall]

I wasn’t planning on upgrading, largely because of the O2 sensor (I have sleep apnea and it gives me some useful trends about it), but between the good Best Buy trade in and having a few BB gift cards I decided to go for it. I’m hoping the sleep apnea detection will give me most of what I want, which is largely to have data to talk to my doctor about since my symptoms have significantly decreased since moving to sea level. I’m super grateful for that, but because of that my insurance won’t cover any equipment. I think the sleep apnea detection should help me get an idea if I need to keep pushing or if I’m good to continue not using my machine.

But really, Apple should just pay the licensing fees. I figured they’d resolve it, but they very well might just ride it out until the patent expires in a few years. Even if it’s not the most useful sensor for most people they have PLENTY of cash lol.

 

[twinpeaks_sf]

The blood oxygen sensor is the most unreliable of all health sensors on Apple Watch for me across several generations I've worn. I seldom get daytime measurements and nighttime ones are usually several %s below a finger sensor.

 

[nyy13251]

So if they make a deal for the sensor in a few months, can they update the 10 via software and have it work or would they just add it to watch 11?

 

[azhava]

So if they make a deal for the sensor in a few months, can they update the 10 via software and have it work or would they just add it to watch 11?

Yes, they could update the software and activate it in any of the current Apple Watches that don't have it. The sensor is there, it's just disabled.

 

[mtneer]

I’m not 100% sure if this would work. I’m a patent attorney… the ITC ruling is an import ban. So watches imported into the US are affected. Buying a watch in the US and shipping it to a friend in Canada to activate shouldn’t help, because the watch was imported into the US.

By the same token, buying it in Canada and activating in the US *should* work, and is what I’m planning on doing in 2025…

Won’t the ITC import ban apply to the individual bringing in the watch from Canada, Mexico or wherever? I think realistically it won’t be enforced anywhere, but does that person still technically violate the ban?

 

[deeddawg]

Won’t the ITC import ban apply to the individual bringing in the watch from Canada, Mexico or wherever? I think realistically it won’t be enforced anywhere, but does that person still technically violate the ban?

IANAL and I don’t know the details of the ban, but I suspect it’d only apply to those bringing the watch in for resale. If it’s for personal use I suspect nobody would care.

 

[Jackbequickly]

I have not used the sensor in 8-9 months.

 

[azhava]

I have not used the sensor in 8-9 months.

I've passively used it for the last 2 years via sleep tracking, and I occasionally pull it up and look at it just out of curiosity. Having used it for that long I have a good baseline and know that SpO2 isn't an issue I need to monitor/pay attention to, so I'm not terribly put off by it not being enabled in the Ultra 2 I'll be getting next week.

I certainly won't complain if Apple re-enables it at some point in the future, but it's not that big of a deal to me either way.

 

[guy999]

Not to mention the unknowns of getting warranty or applecare service in the US on a model purchased elsewhere. Anyone have direct experience getting service on a CA or MX model in the US?

I believe I read the patents expire in 2028, so from a business perspective Apple may be considering how many US sales they'll realistically lose between now and then vs the cost to capitulate and license the technology.

I get the principle of the matter, but am also curious as to what actionable information people are gaining from the sensor and what they then do with that information?

so for me I now take acetazolamide when I go to colorado and follow my pulse ox trends when I'm there and I feel better than have significantly less mountain sickness. It's much easier to do this with the watch that with a portable pulse ox.

Certainly I could use a portable pulse ox but by the same token I don't need messages on my watch I could just use my phone.

My watch last years is fine. I'm sure they will fix this eventually, really no reason for me to upgrade yearly anyways so probably a good idea to get out of the habit anyways.

 

[deeddawg]

I'm sure they will fix this eventually, really no reason for me to upgrade yearly anyways so probably a good idea to get out of the habit anyways.

Nice to hear of the ways the blood,ox helps folks with certain medical conditions - I expected there would be a number of owners finding it helpful in that way.

I believe the patents expire in a little under four years, so it will most likely return. Only question is whether Apple deems it in their interests to come to an agreement before them. My guess is the $$$ benefit may not offset the $$$ cost.

 

[MikeDr206]

IANAL and I don’t know the details of the ban, but I suspect it’d only apply to those bringing the watch in for resale. If it’s for personal use I suspect nobody would care.

it is a “first sale” doctrine. Once purchased from Apple or a distributor, it can be freely resold in the US.

 

[MikeDr206]

IANAL and I don’t know the details of the ban, but I suspect it’d only apply to those bringing the watch in for resale. If it’s for personal use I suspect nobody would care.

And in theory a party can purchase them in Canada as an end consumer (e.g., from the Apple Store) and then re-sell them in the states (e.g., on EBay). This would be a gray market importation that is tolerated in small numbers.

 

[T.j.p.]

Looks like the S10 in the UK doesn't have bloody Oxygen either now

You may have to enable it. It’s generally disabled for under 18 year olds. And in some places needs to be enabled.

 

[goldmac2006]

You may have to enable it. It’s generally disabled for under 18 year olds. And in some places needs to be enabled.

Yep double check the age in your health profile in the Health app on your iPhone. The age restricted 🚫 features in Apple Watch include Sleep Apnea, ECG, blood oxygen, afib detection, and VO2 max monitoring. Correct the birth year if you made a mistake, and if you want to try it out, just push it a few years before. This does not affect the birthdate set on Apple account or on the Medical ID.

 

[blcamp]

Right, because that's what they did with existing Apple watches in the US.

Not exactly. I have an S9, which I bought before the ban on the blood oxygen feature went into effect. I can still get readings. I believe the ban is based on date of manufacture, according to serial number; and I'm pretty sure that Apple can re-enable it for every device as part of a settlement agreement.

I'm pretty happy with my S9, don't really need the Ultra but would be open to upgrading to an S11 if the dispute is settled, sometime this year.