Did my Apple Watch save my life by helping me discover an undiagnosed heart defect?

@Mai
And here I am with an Apple Watch Ultra 2 that doesn’t work on it. Hopefully, they will win, and it will just be enabled in settings.

Mai said:
And if you’re in the U.S. and had upgraded before discovering this, you might never have found out :sweat_smile:

Quick question, does this only apply inside the U.S.? Will the feature still work outside or in other countries? I’m planning on upgrading from SE2.

@Eliot
I looked into this recently. It depends on where the watch was purchased, and the O2 feature is only restricted for those bought in the U.S. You could theoretically order one from Canada or use a third party that ships to the U.S. and it would work. But if you need a warranty repair, they’ll replace it without the O2 feature again. This also applies to older models.

@Mai
Apple needs to get their act together! Thanks for the info!

It’s great that the Apple Watch raised awareness with this metric! However, keep in mind that low readings are often due to movement issues when taking this measurement, so it can lead to lower numbers. But it’s overall helpful for monitoring averages!

@Jesse
Yeah, you can check the raw data, especially while sleeping, to see if there are many consecutive low readings. I see random drops to 90-93 sometimes, but it’s just one reading, and the rest are good, so I’m not worried.

I’ve had both my watch and finger pulse oximeter show my SpO2 levels below 90. But I’ve had EKGs, chest X-rays, and an echo that came back normal. The only abnormal thing was slightly elevated proBNP.

Mine says O2 isn’t available. How do I turn it on?

@Sidney
Is there any way to bypass it?

Asa said:
@Sidney
Is there any way to bypass it?

You could get an older watch that isn’t affected.

Asa said:
@Sidney
Is there any way to bypass it?

Sell your current one. Buy one when you’re on a trip overseas.

Marcell said:

Asa said:
@Sidney
Is there any way to bypass it?

Sell your current one. Buy one when you’re on a trip overseas.

How far overseas? Just anywhere besides the USA?

@Asa
You can buy one in Canada, especially if you want the cellular feature. But if you need to send it in for repairs, they’ll likely replace it with one that doesn’t have the sensor enabled.

@Rayne
Mine looks similar, and now I’m worried too, lol.

@Rayne
Okay, this makes me feel better because mine looks exactly like this…

@Rayne
There are a lot of false readings; I have the same issue.

@Rayne
Okay, this is mine too. Am I dying?

@Kai
See your doctor; oxygen saturation that low could be a lung or heart issue.