4 ms·

Article says they will patch it out in software. Wonder if this means existing watches will also have it patched out?

• FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  Most likely existing ones will be silently patched out as well. They did the same with the noise cancelling feature on their AirPods where it suddenly got worse after one silent update due to a patent litigation. It's one of the reason why I'm not buying Apple products, I don't want the manufacturer silently nerfing my purchased property without my consent and me having no control over it. With other manufactures updates are usually triggered manually, not "automagically".
• gnicholas 3y ago
  My reading of the article is different, though it's not terribly clear: > Apple has developed a software workaround to the ban that eliminates the function from its devices. Last week, the US Customs and Border Protection agency approved redesigned versions of the watches that didn’t have the oxygen reader. Why would Customs need to approve a redesigned version that doesn't have the oxygen reader if this was a change in software only? It seems that the first sentence may not be directly related to the second. Yes, Apple can develop a software workaround to remove this feature from being accessible. This is obviously true. I believe they tried to do this in order to be able to import the already-produced devices despite the ban. But Customs might say that this wouldn't satisfy the ITC ban because the actual sensor, which is the patented item in question, is still included in the watch — even if the user can't access it in any way. This would explain why they then sought approval for a new device that does not have the sensor.