The ban on selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 with the blood oxygen feature has officially gone into effect today after a legal dispute with Masimo, a medical tech company. This means that starting today, any Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 bought directly from Apple in the U.S. will come without a working blood oxygen monitoring feature. Odds are the blood oxygen monitor is not a deal breaker—however, there are ways around the ban if you're after an Apple Watch that has one. (For now, anyway.)
For now, here’s where you can still get the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 with the blood oxygen monitoring feature.
Apple Watch Series 9:
Apple Watch Ultra 2:
You can still find Apple watches with the blood oxygen monitoring feature abroad since the ban is only for the U.S.
If you want to have a better chance of getting the blood oxygen monitoring feature, shopping for refurbished Apple watches is a safer bet. Places like Back Market and Woot are reputable places to shop for refurbished items. Of course, you can also find them on big-name sellers like Amazon and Walmart.
Since the ban only affects Apple stores in the U.S., third-party sellers are still carrying the Apple watches with the blood oxygen monitoring feature (at least for now). The Apple watches have remained on sale through Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart, and Target, among other stores. Best Buy and Amazon even dropped the price of the Series 9 to its lowest price so far this week.
As senior technology editor Jake Peterson pointed out, the order from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) blocks imports and sales (even to third-party resellers) of the wearables going forward, meaning once stores like Best Buy and Amazon sell out, they’re gone until this legal situation is sorted out. Because the ban went into effect today, it’s a safe assumption that the stock in stores isn’t affected yet. The more time that goes on, the higher the chance that you might pick one up from a third-party seller.
There is no foolproof way to tell if the Apple watch in your online cart has had its blood oxygen monitoring feature disabled or not, but there is a way to be on the safer side—read the description. Presumably, third-party sellers have to change the description to abide by advertising and marketing laws set by the Federal Trade Commission.
There is bound to be confusion knowing which Apple Watches are affected and which aren’t going forward. Once you get one of these Apple watches, you should have the feature for the lifespan of the device—but this is uncharted territory.
