Apple is temporarily resuming sales of its latest smartwatches
Apple resumed sales of its latest smartwatches on Thursday, a day after a federal appeals court temporarily overturned an earlier ban on their import and sale in the United States.
But the fate of the watches will ultimately depend on how an ongoing legal battle plays out in federal court in the coming weeks.
The company has halted sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 at its flagship stores on December 21 and in stores on Christmas Eve. The pause was the result of a patent case that Apple lost in October.
The ruling in that case became final on Tuesday, when President Biden’s administration declined to intervene and reverse the ruling. But on Wednesday, a federal appeals court ordered the government not to enforce the law “until further notice” while the court considers Apple’s appeal.
So could I buy an Apple Watch today?
Yes. The company said Wednesday it would resume retail sales of the two new watches at some Apple stores that day, and at more stores by Saturday.
Apple said online sales of the two watches would resume Thursday at noon Pacific, or 3 p.m. Eastern, on its website.
Tell me more about this lawsuit.
The case against Apple before the U.S. International Trade Commission focuses on technology that some Apple watches use to measure a wearer’s heart rate by measuring the percentage of oxygen in their blood.
The Commision reigned in October that some models of Apple watches infringed on patents of two California medical technology companies, Masimo and Cercacor Laboratories. It ordered Apple to stop selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Watch Ultra 2 after Christmas.
The Biden administration had 60 days to decide whether to veto the commission’s ruling. On Tuesday he said yes chose not to do sowhich makes the ruling final.
But on Wednesday, the federal appeals court granted a new request from Apple to pause implementation of the ruling while the appeal proceeds. It gave the committee until January 10 to respond to Apple’s request for further delay in enforcing the ban.
Is Apple going to disable the watch I got for Christmas?
No, although the legal battle will ultimately determine whether sales, service and repairs of Apple’s latest watches continue in the long term.
The battle could hinge in part on a proposed redesign of the two watches that Apple has submitted to US customs authorities for approval.
Does this lawsuit also apply to other Apple Watches?
The ban, which was temporarily suspended on Wednesday, applied to several other models that use the same heart rate monitoring technology, including the Apple Watch Series 6, 7 and 8, and all models of the Apple Watch Ultra. But those models are not currently sold in Apple stores or on the company’s website. (The ban did not apply to the Apple Watch SE.)
What about the international sales of these watches?
The ruling only affected sales in the United States.