Apple watchers could be forgiven for assuming that, at some stage, everything would revert to the status quo. That someone would pop up to say, \u201cWhoops, sorry for the confusion, not sure what went wrong there,\u201d but naturally, Apple is allowed to do whatever it likes. But this just\u2026 didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n
The closest the company came to victory was the announcement last week, after almost 20 months of reduced functionality and disrupted sales, that blood-oxygen measurement has returned<\/a> to the Series 9, 10, and Ultra 2. But it\u2019s not the same as before. Apple calls the feature \u201credesigned,\u201d and it\u2019s arguably worse. You can still take a reading and track your levels throughout the day, but you\u2019ll need to consult your iPhone to get any data.<\/p>\n Have these shenanigans damaged Apple? Of course. Losing a headline health feature for the better part of two years can only be negative. Returning it to watches in a worse state is frustrating. Is the damage mortal? Of course not, although it\u2019s hard to measure because of the way the company reports revenue, and because we can hardly go around asking customers why they did or didn\u2019t make a purchase.<\/p>\n In Q1 2024, which includes that week of the watches being unavailable at Apple.com, Wearables\/Home\/Accessories revenue was down 11.3 percent year on year. And in Q2 2024, which covers the three months after Apple removed blood-oxygen measurement, revenue was down 9.6 percent. Those numbers may reflect the Series 9 being very similar<\/a> to its predecessors, and perhaps ructions elsewhere in that broad product category. But it seems safe to assume that at least some Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales were lost as a result of the Masimo affair.<\/p>\n Then again, it\u2019s not like Masimo fared much better. It doesn\u2019t appear to have received any kind of payoff, the publicity has been almost entirely negative, and battling a company of Apple\u2019s size in court is a drain on time, money, and executive focus. Last September, Masimo said goodbye<\/a> to the chairman\/CEO who did so much to trigger and aggravate the dispute, and while that wasn\u2019t explicitly mentioned in the resignation announcement, it seems fair to say that jettisoning your leader isn\u2019t a sign of a company that\u2019s on top of the world.<\/p>\n But Apple Watch users have lost the most. Those who bought an Apple Watch before January 2024 were lucky enough to keep the blood-oxygen feature\u2014things never reached the stage of remotely disabling the sensor on existing watches\u2014but anyone who bought a new model after was stuck with an incomplete feature set. Not to mention that Apple was unable to make any positive updates to the feature, or develop new applications for the sensor.<\/p>\n Other than lawyers, in other words, nobody won. The entire saga was just a bad idea from beginning to end, draining resources from both parties and generating resentment throughout the user base and negative PR everywhere else. Which makes me wonder how it got this far.<\/p>\n Presumably, Masimo thought it had a legitimate case, and expected Apple to pay the \u201cmake this go away\u201d fee; presumably, Apple thought that would set a bad precedent and encourage similar complaints in the future, so it decided to call Masimo\u2019s bluff. But surely once Masimo carried on with its suit, and especially once the ITC made its feelings clear, it was time for Apple to be sensible and play nicely. Then again, perhaps the somewhat inflammatory language<\/a> used by Masimo\u2019s former CEO put paid to that idea.<\/p>\n It just goes to show, I suppose, that even very powerful and successful companies are prone to misjudgments. That making the best product is not necessarily the absolute first priority all of the time. And that occasionally, it isn\u2019t David or Goliath that wins the battle, but the guy who sells snacks at halftime.<\/p>\n Foundry<\/p>\n Welcome to our weekly Apple Breakfast column, which includes all the Apple news you missed last week in a handy bite-sized roundup. We call it Apple Breakfast because we think it goes great with a Monday morning cup of coffee or tea, but it\u2019s cool if you want to give it a read during lunch or dinner hours too.<\/p>\n Trending: Top stories<\/p>\n It\u2019s that time of year, Apple fans: Do you really need another iPhone<\/a>?<\/p>\n The iPad Pro still isn\u2019t a MacBook replacement<\/a>, and it never will be.<\/p>\n A new Apple Watch is coming. It\u2019s time to break the mold<\/a>.<\/p>\n Apple (and everyone else) tells Elon Musk<\/a> he\u2019s wrong about app favoritism.<\/p>\n AOL dial-up says goodbye. Without Apple, it might not have changed the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n Famed Apple leaker dishes on the art of iPhone rumors<\/a> and the beauty of e-waste.<\/p>\n Podcast of the week<\/p>\n In episode 946, we introduce a brand-new version of the Macworld Podcast. Our main topic of discussion is an update to Apple\u2019s work in AI and Siri. Plus, the worst thing that happened this week, what happened this week in Apple history, and the Macworld Podcast Inbox.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n You can catch every episode of the Macworld Podcast on YouTube<\/a>,\u00a0Spotify<\/a>,\u00a0Soundcloud<\/a>, the\u00a0Podcasts app<\/a>, or\u00a0our own site<\/a>.<\/p>\n Reviews corner<\/p>\n The rumor mill<\/p>\n Is this our first look<\/a> at the iPhone 17 Pro\u2019s official marketing image?<\/p>\n Apple code<\/a> confirms the first MacBook Pro with 5G is in development.<\/p>\n Apple is planning a big AI comeback<\/a>, but we\u2019ve heard this song before.<\/p>\n Report outlines how Siri is holding up<\/a> Apple\u2019s entire product launch strategy.<\/p>\n Video of the week<\/p>\n Are we really going to start talking about Wi-Fi 8 already? Yes! Everything you need to know is revealed in our latest short<\/a>. Enjoy all our short-form video on TikTok<\/a> or Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n Software updates, bugs, and problems<\/p>\n New iOS 26 beta iPhone ringtones ranked! Here are our favorites<\/a>\u2013which one is yours?<\/p>\n Why ChatGPT-5 is kind of a big deal<\/a> for Apple fans.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s proof that macOS can run on an iPhone<\/a> \u2013 but don\u2019t get too excited.<\/p>\n Macintosh HD and 20 other macOS Tahoe icons<\/a> that will shock your eyes this fall.<\/p>\n And with that, we\u2019re done for this week\u2019s Apple Breakfast. If you\u2019d like to get regular roundups, sign up for our newsletters<\/a>, including our new email from The Macalope\u2013an irreverent, humorous take on the latest news and rumors from a half-man, half-mythical Mac beast. You can also follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Threads<\/a>, Bluesky<\/a>, or X<\/a> for discussion of breaking Apple news stories. See you next Monday, and stay Appley.<\/p>\n![\"Apple](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/apple_breakfast_logo.jpg\"){kind=logo}
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