In a move that has come as a surprise to many in the industry, Apple has paused the sale of their 9th and newest edition of the Apple Watch after a copyright dispute.
The dispute stems from the Blood Oxygen feature of the watch using similar technology to a device created by Masimo, a medical tech company.
The International Trade Commission ordered Apple to halt sales; however, the Biden administration was supposed to review the restriction before Christmas. I guess Apple didn't think things were going their way.
U.S. customers won't see a change in their access to buying either watch until Thursday. Online sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 will pause at 3 p.m. Thursday and in stores after Sunday.
The White House had 60 days to review the restrictions, per ITC policy, or until Dec. 25, but Apple said it started the pause early to ensure it is compliant with the order if the ITC ruling holds up.
Because of the allegations against Apple that they stole this technology, the tech giant has halted sales of the device early until they can update it to change the feature to get them in the clear from intellectual property theft.
This is where the technical battle begins. Apple thinks they can skirt the IP theft charge by updating the software on the Apple Watch 9 but Masimo is alleging that the watch hardware itself is the problem, meaning Apple would have to scrap the watch and start over with a different blood oxygen sensor.
Needless to say, that would be very costly for Apple.
If you've already got one of the new Apple Watches, good news, Apple says it's going to keep updating it for you.
People who have already bought either of the two Apple Watches in question will not have any issues with their product, according to Apple, and there is no change to the availability of either model outside of the U.S.
You'll just have a very rare and unique watch now. So that's cool!
And you'll be wearing illegally stolen medical technology.
You'll get to talk to your friends about how you're wearing stolen tech and no one can touch you for it.
Like a real gangsta.
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