Plaintiff Alex Morales said he believed that he’d bought the Apple Watch believing its blood oxygen feature would work “without regard to skin tone.” However, the class action lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice, meaning it can’t be brought forth against Apple again.
However, there is bias with light-based sensors. That’s because they determine your metrics based on how light reflects off the skin. Melanin (and tattoo ink) impacts that, though companies try to make up for it by fine-tuning algorithms. It’s well-known that even pulse oximeters aren’t as accurate for non-white patients.
Reminder: Apple wasn’t required to get FDA clearance for its blood oxygen feature because it’s for general wellness, aka just for fun. It also clearly states that in its apps. If you want better accuracy, stick to pulse oximeters.
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