the Apple Watch

A 2025 software update restored redesigned blood-oxygen monitoring on recent Apple Watch models, crystallizing coverage’s shift from hardware iteration to health-feature regulation.

Who they are

Apple Watch is Apple’s smartwatch platform, appearing in coverage as a consumer device tied to the iPhone and Apple’s wider health, fitness, software, and hardware ecosystem. Stories track both successive Watch models and the company’s effort to turn wearable sensing and health features into a core product role.

The recent arc

Recent coverage peaked in 2024Q3, driven by reports that the Series 10 would be thinner with larger screens, before attention moved from physical redesign to the availability and value of health features. The January 2024 CBP decision in Apple’s Masimo patent fight allowed sales of the Series 9 with pulse oximetry removed, making regulatory and legal constraints central to the product story.

In 2025, coverage followed Apple’s workaround: The Verge reported that a software update enabled redesigned blood-oxygen monitoring for the Series 9, Series 10, and Ultra 2 while circumventing the ITC ban. A Series 11 review then emphasized modest battery gains and Sleep Score, while noting that watchOS 26 improvements would also reach older watches. Bloomberg’s May 2026 deep dives on Apple Watch and Health extend that focus on the platform’s health strategy rather than a single launch.

The tension

The recurring tension is between Apple’s health ambitions and the limits imposed by patent enforcement and regulation. The Masimo dispute forced the removal of pulse oximetry from affected U.S. models before Apple introduced a redesigned monitoring approach, while the FDA’s repeated presence in the coverage reflects how closely wearable-health differentiation depends on features that must withstand scrutiny.

Why it matters

If this trajectory holds, Apple Watch’s competitive significance will rest increasingly on whether Apple can deliver durable, broadly available health capabilities through hardware and watchOS, not simply annual screen or battery improvements. The blood-oxygen episode shows that legal and regulatory outcomes can materially shape which health functions users receive and when, creating uncertainty around the pace of future sensing features.

Related: Apple · iPhone · FDA · Filing: as part of the Masimo patent fight, the US CBP decides that Ap · Sources: Apple Watch Series 10 will be thinner and have bigger screens