Update: After an earlier stay gave Apple a brief reprieve, it appears the sales ban on Apple Watches in the U.S. is back on. Starting Thursday, Jan. 18, Apple will no longer be able to sell the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2 in the United States, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled against the company's wishes to stay the ban during appeals. While it's likely Apple will reintroduce these watches without the blood oxygen monitors (possibly via a software update), that remains to be seen.
Read on for more details in the original article, which follows:
When a company, like Apple, releases a product, like the Apple Watch, you expect them to sell it for a while. But unfortunately for Apple, the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 won't be on shelves for much longer.
It all stems from an extended patent infringement legal battle between Apple and Masimo, a medical technology company. Masimo sued Apple in 2020 over 10 patents it believed the company infringed on. Then, back in January, a U.S. judge agreed that Apple had infringed on one of these patents, specifically a pulse oximeter patent for recording blood oxygen levels. Apple has included a blood oxygen sensor on all Apple Watches since the Series 6 (minus the SE), so it wasn't clear how widespread this ruling's affects could be on Apple.
Following an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC), however, the situation is now clear: Apple will stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 on its website starting Thursday, Dec. 21 and will pull the watches from its retail stores after Dec. 24. You can see Apple's full statement to 9to5Mac below:
A Presidential Review Period is in progress regarding an order from the U.S. International Trade Commission on a technical intellectual property dispute pertaining to Apple Watch devices containing the Blood Oxygen feature. While the review period will not end until December 25, Apple is preemptively taking steps to comply should the ruling stand. This includes pausing sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from Apple.com starting December 21, and from Apple retail locations after December 24.
Apple’s teams work tirelessly to create products and services that empower users with industry-leading health, wellness, and safety features. Apple strongly disagrees with the order and is pursuing a range of legal and technical options to ensure that Apple Watch is available to customers.
Should the order stand, Apple will continue to take all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.
The Biden administration does have until Dec. 25 to veto the ruling, if it so chooses, but as it stands, the latest two Apple Watches are leaving Apple's stores.
If you want to buy one of these Apple Watches from Apple, you'll need to do so immediately. That said, third-party stores will be able to continue selling their stock of the watches, so they'll likely be available for some time following Apple's deadlines. However, the ruling blocks imports of the wearables going forward, and as they're made outside the U.S., Apple will not be able to replenish its stock of watches. Once third-party stores sell out, they're gone until this legal situation is sorted out.
Potential hope for Apple (and potential Apple Watch customers)
It's possible Apple can avert this whole situation and return to business as usual: As Bloomberg reports, Apple is feverishly working on a software patch for the Apple Watch that would adjust the way it measures blood oxygen levels, and how watchOS presents this information to the end user. Two things aren't clear here, however: Can Apple get this software update to customers in time for this deadline? Plus, will this patch be enough to convince the ITC or the Biden administration that the company is doing enough to address Masimo's infringement claims?
Either way, it's a fascinating development. We'll just have to wait and see what the fates of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 will be.