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There’s some good news for Apple Watch users in the US who miss the blood oxygen monitoring function. As per recent developments, there is a chance for its return, though the timeline is quite uncertain – and possibly very long.

Apple is trying to appeal the ban, which may result in a sooner reinstatement

Remember when Apple was sued by Masimo for infringing the pulse oximetry technology used to measure blood oxygen levels? This decision affected the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. Documents from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) indicate Apple can potentially resume selling Apple Watches with the blood oxygen feature by August 2028 at the latest. This coincides with the expiration of the patent Apple was found to have infringed upon.

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However, this isn’t the only factor at play. Apple is actively appealing the ban imposed by the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). If their appeal is successful, the blood oxygen functionality could return sooner than August 2028.

The whole situation is further complicated by the lack of a settlement between Apple and Masimo, the patent holder. As of now, a licensing agreement seems unlikely. Reports state that Masimo’s CEO remains open to discussion but hasn’t engaged with Apple yet.

That’s not all. Masimo is raising concerns that Apple might enable the blood oxygen function on jailbroken iPhones through software updates. They’re advocating for stricter restrictions, ideally at the hardware level, to prevent this possibility. This fiasco might end up costing Apple billions of dollars since Apple Watches are some of its most popular products next to the iPhones and Macs. We’ll find out soon if Apple can bring blood-oxygen-measuring Apple Watches back to the market, but for now, all we can do is wait. Stay tuned for future coverage on the same!

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