Image credit: Apple
Apple Watch Series 10 is introducing several exciting features, but U.S. users may be disappointed to find that blood oxygen detection, a key health feature from earlier models, won't be available. This change is due to an ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, a company that holds patents related to this technology. As a result, Apple has removed the blood oxygen sensor from the Series 10 in the U.S. market.
Blood oxygen monitoring, first introduced with the Apple Watch Series 6, allowed users to measure their blood oxygen levels on-demand, a feature that became popular for tracking overall health, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, due to this legal roadblock, it will be missing from the new model, with no plans for reintroduction in the near future.
Despite this setback, the Series 10 still brings forward other significant health advancements, such as sleep apnea detection, but losing the blood oxygen feature is seen as a major blow for many users who relied on it for continuous health monitoring.
Apple hasn't made any public comments about resolving the issue, so it remains uncertain whether future versions of the Apple Watch will bring back this functionality in the U.S. anytime soon.