A legal saga over pulse oximeter technology has culminated in a temporary setback for Apple’s smartwatch ambitions. Starting Thursday, the new Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 will ship without the ability to measure blood oxygen levels, complying with a recent International Trade Commission (ITC) ruling.

This decision stems from a two-month-old patent dispute with Masimo, a California-based medical technology company. Masimo, a pioneer in pulse oximetry, accused Apple of infringing on its technology in the aforementioned Watch models. The ITC sided with Masimo, issuing an import ban on these Apple devices.

Rather than halt sales entirely, Apple sought permission to continue selling the watches with the infringing feature disabled. This compromise was approved by U.S. Customs, allowing Apple to keep its flagship wearables on the market.

For consumers, the impact will be immediate. While existing Apple Watches with blood oxygen measurement capabilities remain unaffected, new Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 owners in the U.S. will find the Blood Oxygen app present but unusable. Tapping the app will simply inform them that the feature is unavailable.

This development represents a blow to Apple’s healthcare-focused efforts. Since debuting ECG capabilities in 2018, the company has steadily expanded its smartwatches’ health-tracking repertoire. Blood oxygen monitoring, introduced in 2020, was another step in this direction.

Apple, however, remains defiant. “We strongly disagree with the decision,” an Apple spokesperson declared. The company has appealed the ITC ruling and is seeking a delay on the sales ban until the appeals court weighs in. The legal battle is expected to conclude sometime this year.

While the future of blood oxygen monitoring on Apple Watches remains uncertain, one thing is clear: the tech giant’s ambitions in the healthcare space are far from extinguished. This temporary hurdle may only fuel Apple’s determination to push the boundaries of wearable health technology, with even more innovative features on the horizon.