Apple Watch and Oxygen Saturation Sensors
It’s been widely reported that starting today, on January 18th, 2024, Apple can no longer sell new Apple Watches with oxygen saturation functionality in the U.S. Since BoundaryCare relies on the Apple Watch to gather data including O2 levels, we wanted to let you know how this will affect us.
What Happened?
For the past few years, Apple has been involved in a legal dispute with a company that claims its patents on oxygen saturation sensors are being infringed by the hardware and software in the Apple Watch. In late 2023 ruling, the U.S. ITC banned new imports of Apple Watches with oxygen saturation functionality into the U.S. That ban has now come into effect.
What Does This Mean for Existing Users?
All existing owners of Apple Watches, including customers running BoundaryCare, will continue to have oxygen saturation monitoring functionality.
What Does This Mean for New BoundaryCare Customers?
Watches already in the U.S. and owned by third parties before January 18th are not subject to any restrictions. Third-party retailers like Amazon, Target, and Best Buy can continue to sell their models with oxygen saturation with no restrictions while supplies last. BoundaryCare works and our hardware partners hold enough stock for us to continue offering oxygen saturation capabilities to new users for the next few months at least. We also imagine Apple will resolve this situation one way or another well before we start running low.
We will, of course, continue monitoring the situation and will promptly update our community if we need to make any adjustments.
