Apple Watch US sales ban update: Apple working on software fix
The bizarre move has come from necessity as a result of a legal ruling
Apple has admitted it will pull its latest smartwatch models from sale in the US this week.
UPDATE: Some new details have emerged about a forthcoming software update which may mitigate the situation (but presumably not in time) – read on for more on this.
The bizarre move has come from necessity as a result of a legal ruling that only affects the Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. It doesn’t affect Watch SE which will remain fully on sale.
The move means that Apple won’t sell the products from the end of this week (3pm E.T. on December 21) – presumably until the situation can be resolved – but other sellers like Best Buy and Amazon can carry on selling their inventory. Sales of older models also aren’t affected.
Apple currently only has to stop selling the watches in the US – sales in other territories can continue.
Why does Apple have to do this?
The move – first reported by 9to5Mac – follows a ruling by the ITC – the United States International Trade Commission. This is related to a patent dispute. Patent disputes are regular occurrences in the tech industry and Apple is regularly involved due to its size and breadth, but rarely do things get this far.
The dispute with Apple is from medical company Masimo which is claiming patents have been infringed by the SpO2 or blood oxygen monitoring sensor. It brought the complaint to the ITC which ruled in its favour.
This was announced in October, but the original decision dates from January. The October date set in motion a chain of events involving a 60 day Presidential Review Period that expires on December 25.
That period means President Biden could theoretically veto the ITC ruling, but this is unlikely. However, it wouldn’t be without precedent – a previous dispute with Samsung was dismissed by President Obama.
Why does the ruling only affect Apple’s latest watches?
The ruling only affects watches that offers blood oxygen monitoring. If it had come into play when Apple offered the Watch Series 8 and original Watch Ultra, then those watches would have been affected as they also have the blood oxygen monitoring sensor. Both have been replaced by the newer models, though.
After December 25 it also appears Apple won’t be able to sell the affected devices to retailers – so you might have a hard time getting one in the new year if you were intending to wait.
What can or will Apple do?
This is currently unclear. But Bloomberg is reporting that Apple is working on a software update that removes any issue around the patent. So it appears Apple believes the patent claim by Masimo is over a software capability rather than the sensor itself. Naturally, that doesn’t appear to be what Masimo is saying – it says only hardware alterations to future devices will suffice.
Our take is that presumably Masimo hopes Apple will prefer to settle the case with some financial compensation rather than change the hardware inside its watches which would be an extremely costly thing to alter mid-cycle.
What has Apple said so far?
Apple has provided the following statement to the press in which it suggests it will do everything it can to get the watches back on sale:
A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature. While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand. This includes pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple.com starting December 21, and from Apple retail locations after December 24.
Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features. Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers.
Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.
Dan Grabham
Editor-in-Chief 
