In September 2023, Apple introduced the Watch Series 9 as its first carbon-neutral wearable — a device defined less by radical reinvention than by quiet refinement: a brighter display, a smarter chip, and gestures that inch the wearable closer to intuitive. Yet the watch's story quickly became one of legal entanglement, as a patent ruling over blood oxygen monitoring forced Apple to withdraw the device from its own shelves, reminding us that even the most polished technology exists within the older, slower machinery of intellectual property law.
Apple Watch Series 9 arrives with brighter display, new S9 chip, but faces US sales ban
Apple stopped selling the Series 9 with blood oxygen through its own stores
Mark
So the Series 9 is basically a software update in hardware form?
Mimi
Not entirely. The display is genuinely twice as bright, and the S9 chip does enable things that weren't possible before—the double-tap gesture, on-device Siri. But you're right that the leap isn't dramatic.
Luke
The blood oxygen ban is the real story here, though. Apple can't sell it with that feature through its own stores. That's a significant constraint.
Mimi
Exactly. And it's not temporary—the ban stays in place until at least 2028, when Masimo's patent expires. Apple's appealing, but there's no guarantee.
Mark
Why would anyone buy it from Apple if they can get the full version at Target?
Mimi
Brand loyalty, warranty terms, the buying experience Apple redesigned. But Luke's right to flag this: it's a competitive disadvantage.
Luke
Also worth noting—we don't know if the appeal will succeed. Apple's betting on 2028, but that's five years away.
Mark
And the carbon-neutral claim only applies if you buy aluminum with the Sport Loop?
Mimi
Yes. It's a specific configuration. The stainless steel models don't qualify.
Luke
Which means the carbon-neutral marketing is real but narrow. Most people buying Series 9 won't be buying the carbon-neutral version.
Mark
So what's actually new that matters to someone wearing this every day?
Mimi
The brighter screen is genuinely useful. The double-tap gesture works well. On-device Siri is faster. But no new health sensors—that's the disappointment.
Luke
And watchOS 10 is available on older watches too, so that's not exclusive to Series 9.
Mimi
True. The Series 9 is an incremental step, not a leap.
Il Polso
- Apple's October 2023 patent loss to medical device company Masimo triggered a US import ban that pulled the Series 9 from Apple's own stores by late December — a rare and jarring retreat for one of the world's most powerful companies.
- The blood oxygen feature, once a marquee health capability, became the watch's legal liability, leaving customers who want the full device to seek it through third-party retailers like Amazon and Walmart while Apple fights the ruling.
- A federal appeals court briefly paused the ban to allow continued sales, but that window closed January 18, 2024 — and the underlying patent won't expire until 2028, setting a long horizon for any resolution.
- Meanwhile, the S9 chip quietly delivers the watch's most compelling advances: a double-tap gesture controlled by finger and thumb, on-device Siri that works without Wi-Fi, and 25 percent faster dictation — intelligence folded into the wrist.
- WatchOS 10 reimagines the interface more boldly than the hardware does, redesigning every app for full-screen use and reshuffling navigation in ways that will outlast the patent dispute itself.
In September 2023, Apple introduced the Watch Series 9 as its first carbon-neutral wearable — a device defined less by radical reinvention than by quiet refinement: a brighter display, a smarter chip, and gestures that inch the wearable closer to intuitive. Yet the watch's story quickly became one of legal entanglement, as a patent ruling over blood oxygen monitoring forced Apple to withdraw the device from its own shelves, reminding us that even the most polished technology exists within the older, slower machinery of intellectual property law.
Apple unveiled the Watch Series 9 in September 2023, framing it as the company's first carbon-neutral wearable. The upgrades were meaningful but measured: a display twice as bright as its predecessor, reaching 2,000 nits at peak and dimming to a single nit in darkness, alongside a new S9 chip that handles machine learning tasks at double the speed. Case sizes and pricing held steady — aluminum GPS models at $399, stainless steel starting at $699. Within months, however, the watch became the center of a legal dispute that would redefine how it reaches American customers.
In October 2023, the US International Trade Commission ruled that Apple had infringed two blood oxygen patents held by Masimo. After the White House declined to intervene, Apple pulled the Series 9 and Ultra 2 from its online store in December and halted in-store sales by Christmas Eve. A federal appeals court briefly paused the ban, but by January 18, 2024, Apple stopped selling blood oxygen-enabled models through its own channels. Third-party retailers — Amazon, Target, Walmart — continue to stock the full-featured version. Apple has appealed to US Customs and Border Protection; the contested patent expires in 2028.
The S9 chip's most visible contribution is the double-tap gesture: tapping index finger and thumb together twice lets users control the watch one-handed, with the motion detected through accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor data. Siri now runs partially on-device, handling offline requests without Wi-Fi or cellular — faster, more private, more reliable. Dictation accuracy improved by 25 percent. Despite the brighter display, battery life holds at 18 hours standard and 36 hours in low-power mode.
Carbon-neutral status required strict criteria: fully clean electricity in manufacturing, 30 percent recycled or renewable materials by weight, and half of all shipping by ground rather than air — together cutting product emissions by at least 75 percent. Qualifying models pair an aluminum case with a Sport Loop band. A second-generation Ultra Wideband chip enables Precision Finding for iPhone 15, guiding users to a lost phone through visual, haptic, and audio cues, and deepens HomePod integration by triggering Now Playing when the watch comes within four meters.
WatchOS 10 represents the more ambitious shift. Apple redesigned virtually every app for full-screen use, moved the Control Center to the side button, and introduced the Smart Stack — a widget layer revealed by turning the Digital Crown. Subsequent updates added NameDrop contact sharing, on-device Siri for Health queries, new watch faces including Unity Bloom, 28 new emoji, and expanded language support for incoming message reading. The Series 9's true character is one of refinement interrupted: a watch that advances through software and silicon, its completeness held in suspension by a patent clock counting down to 2028.
Apple unveiled the Watch Series 9 in September 2023, positioning it as the company's first carbon-neutral wearable. The device arrived with meaningful but incremental upgrades: a display twice as bright as its predecessor, capable of reaching 2,000 nits at maximum and dimming to a single nit for dark environments, paired with a new S9 chip that processes machine learning tasks at double the speed of the previous generation. The watch maintains the same 41mm and 45mm case sizes and pricing structure as before, with aluminum models starting at $399 for GPS-only and stainless steel versions beginning at $699. Yet within months of launch, the Series 9 became entangled in a patent dispute that would reshape how the device is sold in the United States.
In October 2023, the US International Trade Commission ruled that Apple had infringed two blood oxygen monitoring patents held by Masimo, a medical device company. The decision moved to the White House for presidential review, a process that concluded on December 25 without intervention. Apple initially removed the Series 9 and Ultra 2 from its online store on December 18, halting sales at 3 p.m. ET on December 21 and clearing physical inventory by December 24. A federal appeals court briefly paused the import ban to allow Apple to continue selling during its legal challenge, but by mid-January 2024, that reprieve ended. As of January 18 at 5 p.m. ET, Apple stopped selling the Series 9 with blood oxygen functionality through its own channels. The company has since appealed the patent decision to US Customs and Border Protection, with the underlying patent set to expire in 2028—a potential window for reinstatement if the appeal succeeds. For now, customers seeking the full feature set can purchase the Series 9 from third-party retailers like Amazon, Target, and Walmart, which continue to stock models with the blood oxygen monitor intact.
The S9 chip's real innovation lies in its machine learning capabilities and what they enable. A faster four-core Neural Engine powers a new double-tap gesture, allowing users to control the watch with one hand by tapping their index finger and thumb together twice. The gesture works by processing data from the accelerometer, gyroscope, and optical heart sensor through a new algorithm. For the first time, Siri runs partially on the device itself, handling offline requests like starting a workout or setting a timer without requiring Wi-Fi or cellular connection, making responses faster and more reliable. Dictation accuracy improved by 25 percent. The brighter display, meanwhile, maintains all-day battery life—up to 18 hours normally, or 36 hours in low-power mode—thanks to the chip's power efficiency.
Apple positioned the Series 9 as carbon-neutral, meeting strict criteria: 100 percent clean electricity for manufacturing and use, 30 percent recycled or renewable material by weight, and 50 percent of shipping without air transport. These measures combine to reduce product emissions by at least 75 percent. To qualify for carbon-neutral status, buyers must choose an aluminum case paired with a new Sport Loop band. The packaging itself is now 100 percent fiber-based. The company added a second-generation Ultra Wideband chip, enabling Precision Finding for the iPhone 15 family—showing distance and direction to a misplaced phone through visual, haptic, and audio cues. The same chip deepens HomePod integration, automatically launching Now Playing when the watch comes within four meters of a HomePod playing audio.
WatchOS 10, the operating system powering the Series 9, represents a more substantial shift than the hardware. Apple redesigned virtually every app to use the full screen, creating more space for content and actions. New watch faces include Palette and Snoopy. The Smart Stack widget system lets users turn the Digital Crown to reveal information like timers, upcoming meetings, and now-playing media below their chosen watch face. The Control Center moved to the side button, while the Digital Crown's single press opens the reimagined App Library and a double press accesses Wallet cards. Apple Fitness Plus gained the ability to create custom workout plans up to eight weeks long, with users selecting weekly schedules, daily duration, and activity types based on specific goals.
Subsequent watchOS updates added layers of functionality. Version 10.1, released in October, introduced NameDrop for sharing contact information between devices. Version 10.2, arriving in December, enabled on-device Siri to handle Health app queries privately without internet connection and added automatic Now Playing when near a HomePod. Version 10.3 in January brought the Unity Bloom watch face, inspired by Black community resilience and Pan-Africanism. Version 10.4, released March 5, added 28 new emoji including a lime, shaking heads, and gender-neutral family silhouettes, plus the ability to disable double-tap when using Apple Vision Pro and simplified Siri activation by saying just "Siri" instead of "Hey Siri." Siri also gained support for reading incoming messages in Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and other languages. Apple is currently testing watchOS 10.5.
The Series 9 launched at the same price point as its predecessors, with no new health sensors added beyond what the Series 8 offered: high and low heart rate notifications, irregular rhythm detection, cardio fitness tracking, temperature sensing, Emergency SOS, international emergency calling, fall detection, and crash detection. Battery and connectivity specs remained unchanged—GPS or GPS plus cellular options, with fast charging included. The real story of the Series 9 is one of refinement interrupted by legal constraint: a watch that improves the experience through software and processing power, made incomplete by a patent dispute that will likely define its market presence until 2028.
Citazioni salienti
When this is on, the double tap gesture will be temporarily ignored while using Vision Pro— Apple, describing watchOS 10.4 feature for Apple Vision Pro users
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