This Thursday, December 21st, may be the last time you can order an Apple Watch Series 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 for an indeterminate amount of time. Maybe it’ll be your last chance of 2023. That’s because, on the 21st online and the 24th in-store, Apple will cease the sales of their recent Apple Watch models due to a patent dispute.
If someone on your Christmas list asked Santa for an Apple Watch, you may want to run to the nearest Apple Store now.
Apple will pull the smartwatches from shelves thanks to an order from the International Trade Commission (ITC). The blood oxygen sensor in the Apple Watch may violate the patent of another company, and the final decision may include a ban on the Apple Watch starting December 25th. Apple is taking early steps in case the ruling stands so they’ll be in compliance. The ruling comes from the U.S., and customers in other parts of the world will be able to order Apple’s latest watch without issue.
Blood Monitoring and Patents
Apple introduced blood oxygen monitoring in the Apple Watch Series 6, released in 2020. In 2021, Masimo filed a lawsuit claiming Apple violated their patents on light-based blood oxygen monitoring. A judge ruled in their favor, and the ITC upheld that ruling. President Biden could veto the ruling by the 25th, but Apple isn’t planning for that. They’ve instead begun to pull their devices on their own to ensure compliance with the order. The sales ban will block the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and Apple Watch Series 9, but will not prevent sales of the Apple Watch SE, as this doesn’t have blood oxygen monitoring.
Apple plans to appeal with the Federal Circuit. However, currently they’re rushing on a software update to allow sales of their latest Apple Watches to continue. This could entail deactivating the blood oxygen monitoring features entirely, as Masimo says “the hardware needs to change” if Apple wants to keep the feature. Still, Apple could try a software-based workaround that could allow the feature to continue working, but may have reduced or otherwise changed accuracy. According to reporting from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, “They’re adjusting how the technology determines oxygen saturation and presents the data to customers.”
How Apple Moves On
J.P. Morgan says the sales ban will not overtly damaging to Apple. The ban is restricted to the United States, and only accounts for Apple’s latest Apple Watch models. This represents, by their estimates, $5 billion in sales, or 1% of Apple’s yearly sales. Apple’s share price took a slight dip on the news, but seems to be recovering already.
Apple may have to redesign the Apple Watch sensor for the Apple Watch Series 10 and Apple Watch Ultra 3. Rumors have, once again, pointed to a complete redesign of the Apple Watch, though this has been the rumor since the Apple Watch Series 7. The new design could feature a new way to attach watch bands, but Apple allegedly is considering a wasteful proprietary approach that could turn many existing Apple Watch bands into trash. Apple could introduce these in 2024 or 2025, as Apple has considered moving away from a yearly launch for their smartwatch.
Sources:
- Samuel Axon, Ars Technica
- Juli Clover, MacRumors
- Wesley Hilliard, AppleInsider
- Kris Holt, Engadget
- Victoria Song, The Verge