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- Apple iOS 18.6.1 restores blood oxygen monitoring in the United States
Apple has released iOS 18.6.1 for U.S. iPhones only, bringing a Blood Oxygen monitoring update.
Apple will introduce a redesigned Blood Oxygen feature for some Apple Watch Series 9, Series 10, and Apple Watch Ultra 2 users through an iPhone and Apple Watch software update coming later today.
Users with these models in the U.S. who currently do not have the Blood Oxygen feature will have access to the redesigned Blood Oxygen feature by updating their paired iPhone to iOS 18.6.1 and their Apple Watch to watchOS 11.6.1.
Following this update, sensor data from the Blood Oxygen app on Apple Watch will be measured and calculated on the paired iPhone, and results can be viewed in the Respiratory section of the Health app.
The absence of the blood oxygen monitoring feature was due to a legal dispute between Apple and medical technology company Masimo.
This redesigned feature seems to avoid the dispute. “This update was enabled by a recent U.S. Customs ruling,” Apple says.
There will be no impact to Apple Watch units previously purchased that include the original Blood Oxygen feature, nor to Apple Watch units purchased outside of the U.S.
There’s also an update for the above mentioned Apple Watch models, but for the data to be read on the user’s iPhone, iOS 18.6.1 is necessary.
Apple blood oxygen monitoring
Back in December 2023, Apple withdrew the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 from sale because of the blood oxygen monitoring feature.
The watches were back on sale in January 2024 but the blood oxygen monitoring feature had been removed. And since then, all Apple Watches sold in the U.S. have lacked the feature.
iOS 18.6.1 Supported Devices
- iPhone 16
- iPhone 16 Plus
- iPhone 16 Pro
- iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 15
- iPhone 15 Plus
- iPhone 15 Pro
- iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 14
- iPhone 14 Plus
- iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 Pro Max
- iPhone 13
- iPhone 13 mini
- iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 12
- iPhone 12 mini
- iPhone 12 Pro
- iPhone 12 Pro Max
- iPhone 11
- iPhone 11 Pro
- iPhone 11 Pro Max
- iPhone Xs
- iPhone XS Max
As normal, to update to iOS 18.6.1 go to your iPhone Settings > General > Software Update and install iOS 18.6.1 as soon as you possibly can.
