Apple has announced that it will soon stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Here’s what’s going on.
Apple suspends sales of Apple Watches
In a statement, Apple announced that it will stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 in the United States. As a result, Americans will no longer be able to purchase the two newest Apple Watches from Apple itself from Thursday, December 21. The sales ban is the result of a patent case between Apple and the medical company Masimo.
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According to Masimo, Apple violates the company’s patents by using the saturation meter in the Apple Watch. With this function you can measure the oxygen level in your blood. The sensor has been in the smartwatch since the Apple Watch Series 6, which is why Masimo started a lawsuit against Apple in 2020. This lawsuit has now led to the sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 being halted.
Saturation meter cause sales stop
The medical company Masimo therefore has a patent on the technology behind the saturation meter, which Apple also uses in the Apple Watch. For this reason, the company already requested a ban on the sale of the Apple Watch in 2021. Now a committee has ruled in favor of Masimo, which has major consequences for Apple in the United States. The two newest Apple Watches will soon no longer be allowed to be sold there.
The ban only applies to the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. These watches have a saturation meter, unlike the Apple Watch SE 2022. It can therefore still be sold. Older models such as the Apple Watch Series 6, 7 and 8 are no longer officially sold by Apple itself. The ban therefore does not apply to those models.
Apple is working on a solution
The sales ban actually takes effect on December 25, but Apple is getting ahead of itself and is withdrawing the smartwatches from sale this Thursday. This is probably temporary, because Apple has already indicated that it will do everything it can to lift the sales ban on the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. This may happen via an interim update of watchOS 10, which will no longer infringe the patent, according to Apple.
Whether this will actually be the solution remains to be seen, because according to Masimo it is about the technology behind the saturation meter. In any case, the stakes are high for Apple at the moment, because the company could lose a lot of money during the holidays due to a ban on the sale of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2. There is therefore a good chance that a solution will be reached quickly and the smartwatches will soon be for sale again.
Also read: These health features are coming to the Apple Watch X in 2024
In the Netherlands we probably don’t notice much of the sales ban. The Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2 may remain in stores here. If the matter is not resolved quickly, there is a chance that Apple’s stock will become more limited. In that case, you can also go to other providers, where the smartwatches are often cheaper. So take a look at the best prices here: