Apple has reintroduced the blood oxygen monitoring feature on its newest Apple Watch models sold in the U.S., but with a notable change in how the data is presented. Due to a legal dispute with medical technology company Masimo, Apple cannot display blood oxygen levels directly on the Watch’s screen. Instead, the Watch collects the data, and it is sent to the user’s paired iPhone, where it can be viewed in the Health app.
This workaround comes after an import ban was placed on Apple Watches with active blood oxygen sensors in early 2024. Apple had to disable the feature on devices shipped within the U.S. while keeping the sensor hardware intact. The latest software updates, watchOS 11.6.1 and iOS 18.6.1, enable the sensor to gather information but shift the processing and display to the iPhone, complying with the legal restrictions.
For customers, this means blood oxygen readings are no longer accessible directly from the Watch but can still be tracked and analyzed through the iPhone, maintaining access to this health metric. Watches purchased before the ban or outside the U.S. continue to show the data on the Watch itself as usual.
Apple is actively contesting the trade commission’s ruling and hopes to fully restore on-device blood oxygen monitoring in the future, pending legal outcomes or patent expirations. Until then, this hybrid approach offers users a way to keep using the feature without violating the import ban.
