Reprinted from TidBITS by permission; reuse governed by Creative Commons
license BY-NC-ND 3.0. TidBITS has offered years of thoughtful commentary
on Apple and Internet topics. For free email subscriptions and access to the
entire TidBITS archive, visit http://www.tidbits.com/


      Apple Hit with $634 Million Verdict as Blood Oxygen Battle Drags On

   Adam Engst

   In the latest episode of the legal thriller involving the Apple Watch's
   blood oxygen sensor,[1]Blake Brittain of Reuters reports:

     A federal jury in California said on Friday that Apple owes
     medical-monitoring technology company Masimo $634 million for
     infringing a patent covering blood-oxygen reading technology.

   Apple has already said it will appeal, which will further prolong the
   case. It first impacted consumers when Apple was compelled to disable
   the blood oxygen sensor in Apple Watch models sold in the US (see
   '[2]Apple Disables Blood Oxygen App in New Apple Watches,' 18 January
   2024). Apple subsequently negotiated an iPhone'based workaround with US
   Customs and Border Protection, as we covered in '[3]Blood Oxygen
   Monitoring Returns with iOS 18.6.1 and watchOS 11.6.1' (14 August
   2025). Separately, the US International Trade Commission decided last
   week to hold [4]a new proceeding to determine whether Apple's
   workaround still infringes Masimo's patents. If blood oxygen monitoring
   is important to you, confirm current feature availability before
   purchasing'the situation may change as these processes unfold.

References

   1. https://www.reuters.com/business/us-jury-says-apple-must-pay-masimo-634-million-smartwatch-patent-case-2025-11-15/
   2. https://tidbits.com/2024/01/18/apple-disables-blood-oxygen-app-in-new-apple-watches/
   3. https://tidbits.com/2025/08/14/blood-oxygen-monitoring-returns-with-ios-18-6-1-and-watchos-11-6-1/
   4. https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-trade-tribunal-consider-new-apple-watch-import-ban-2025-11-14/

.