(Credit: PCMag/Angela Moscaritolo)
Apple's latest smartwatches are in serious trouble. After it failed to fight off a patent dispute, the company plans to stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 starting Thursday, unless President Biden steps in squash an International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling. That's a big "if," though, so Apple is looking to avoid the ban itself with a software update.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is designing a software update to work around the ban by changing key algorithms used to measure blood oxygen levels. Masimo—which owns the blood oxygen technology patent at the center of the dispute—claims that won't be enough, as the patent centers on hardware. If that holds, a hardware change may be required.
Masimo's patent covers a method of emitting light onto skin to measure blood oxygen levels. The trouble began when Apple met with Masimo to discuss collaboration a decade ago. That didn't happen, but Apple poached key personnel from Masimo, including its Chief Medical Officer.
From there, Apple released the Apple Watch Series 6, and Masimo sued in district court. When that didn't move quickly enough, Masimo complained to the ITC, which sided with the company and issued a ban on Apple's latest watches.
In the meantime, Apple is reportedly updating its signage in stores to remove references to the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches and focus on the Apple Watch SE, which isn't banned since it doesn't have a blood oxygen sensor.
In a statement, Apple tells us it plans to stop selling the watches online at 3 p.m. ET on Dec. 21, and stores will stop selling them after Dec. 24. You may still find them in third-party retail outlets, like Best Buy, but Apple will stop selling units to those retailers. Once they're gone, they're gone.
Unless Apple manages to either work around the patent to the ITC's satisfaction, or settle with Masimo. Whichever comes first.