- After an 18 -month prohibition, the blood oxygen monitoring will return to the 9 series and ultra 2 of Apple Watch
- However, it is no longer an experience in the device
- The Apple Watch still measures the oxygen of the blood, but the iPhone will calculate and show the final result
18 long months have passed, but Apple announced that the monitoring and monitoring of blood oxygen are returning to the 9 series, series and ultra 2 of Apple Watch in the United States.
The characteristic was deactivated and prohibited effectively in series 9 and Ultra 2, then the 10 series, which was launched later, after a decision in January 2024 due to a patent dispute on the technology that is used between Massimo and Apple. Now, thanks to iOS 18.6.1 and Watchos 11.6.1, which will be implemented later today, the characteristic returns in a ‘redesigned’ form.
In their new iteration, Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10 and Ultra 2 sensors can take a reading, then transmit the data to the connected iPhone, where it will be calculated and displayed in the health application in ‘respiratory’ readings.
So not, you will not be able to take the reading, see as it progresses and then see the results directly on your wrist, as it could before. Even so, this effectively returns the monitoring and monitoring functionality to Apple Watch models impacted in the United States.
In a shared statement, Apple explains the changes such as:
“Users with these models in the United States that currently have the function of blood oxygen will have access to the redesign function of blood oxygen when updating their iPhone matched to iOS 18.6.1, and their Apple Watch to Watchos 11.6.1. After this update, the data of the sensors of the blood oxygen application in Apple Watch Iphone parked and can be seen in the respiratory section of the respiratory section of the respiratory section of the respiratory section of the respiratory section of the Health Health Health Section.
The United States Customs failure is key here, since it will return the function to the Apple Watches sold when the prohibition began and subsequently enforced. If you still have an older Apple Watch, or one is sold before January 2024, the blood oxygen functionality remains without impact and will not be changed. That also applies to the models sold outside the United States, which have not been impacted by this failure.
Even so, this returns the blood oxygen function to Apple Watch, even if you divide the experience between the clock and the phone. But this separation is likely that this allows and approves the customs of the United States.
For those who have bought an Apple Watch Series 9, 10 or Ultra 2 in those many months, this is a return to the form and at the end of the health monitoring functions in Apple’s laptop in the United States. Even in our Apple Watch Series 10 review, we noticed that the blood oxygen monitoring function in the United States was missing.
Apple has a fairly intelligent deployment here, and taking into account the rumors of additional push to the health characteristics that we could see with the future generations of Apple Watch models, it could be useful for these readings to be directly to the health application. However, any of the route, if you have been waiting for the monitoring of blood oxygen to return, return, but want to make sure your iPhone is close if you want to see the results.
Although Apple has not shared an exact moment for the deployment of iOS 18.6.1 and Watchos 11.6.1, has promised to arrive today – August 14, 2025, in the United States, and we will update this piece when we see it implementing.
