Starting later this week, the Apple Watch Ultra 2 and the Apple Watch Series 9 will no longer be available directly from Apple due to an October ruling from the International Trade Commission (ITC). Due to this ruling, Apple will stop selling the devices at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday and halt sales in Apple stores after December 24. The ruling stems from an accusation of Apple infringing on a patent from medical technology company Masimo.
Masimo claims that Apple hired several of its employees ahead of the Apple Watch launch and introduced the blood oxygen sensor technology which Masimo had been working on. Masimo sued Apple in 2020, and a judge ruled that Apple was in violation. The case has been in the hands of President Biden for review, and while Apple denies any wrongdoing, they are preparing to comply with the ban as the review period ends on Christmas Day. This means that Apple Watches with blood oxygen monitoring will no longer be available for sale by Apple, but they will still be available from other retailers like Best Buy and Amazon.
The ban also prevents Apple from importing the watches, leading to a potential shortage of watches in stores. It’s important to note that any watches already sold with the blood oxygen sensor are not affected by the ban.
