Technologies

Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 Ban: The Latest and What You Need to Know

Apple is resuming sales of the Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US. Here’s the latest on the patent dispute.

Apple will resume selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 in the US, at least for now. The company had stopped selling the wearables because of an ongoing legal battle with health tech company Masimo over the blood oxygen detection feature in those watches.

The US International Trade Commission, the federal agency that handles trade-related mandates, previously issued an order that would prohibit Apple from importing the Series 9 and Ultra 2. The decision came after a US judge ruled in January that Apple had infringed on Masimo patents related to the technology used in Apple’s blood oxygen sensing system. The order was under presidential review until Dec. 25 and became final on Dec. 26 after US Trade Representative Katherine Tai decided not to reverse the ITC’s decision.

Apple received a temporary win Wednesday after an Appeals Court paused the ban, allowing Apple to resume selling the devices on Thursday. Apple says that the company expects the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to hear its motion as early as Jan. 15regarding a stay that would last for the entire duration of the appeal.

Apple is immediately restarting sales of both watches, and both the Series 9 and Ultra 2 watches became available to purchase on Apple’s website Thursday. According to a Wednesday statement, Apple is also working on changes to the Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 in order to keep the devices on sale.

«Apple strongly disagrees with the ITC’s decision. In addition to the appeal at the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Apple is vigorously pursuing legal and technical options to ensure that we can continue to provide consumers with Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2, including having submitted a proposed redesigned Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 for US Customs approval,» Apple’s statement said.

According to Bloomberg, Apple has been working on software changes to the Apple Watch’s blood oxygen detection feature, and the government is expected to decide on Jan. 12 whether those updates are sufficient.

The Apple Watch is one of Apple’s most important products and has helped make the company’s wearables, home and accessories business its second-largest product category, behind the iPhone. Apple has previously said the size of its wearables unit alone equals that of a Fortune 150 company. Smartwatches were also among the top products sold during the Black Friday period, according to holiday shopping data from Adobe.

Apple began pausing online sales of the affected watches on Dec. 21 and halted in-store sales on Dec. 24. The ITC order specifically applies to sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple in the US. The watches have remained on sale through Best Buy, Amazon, Walmart and Target. The Apple Watch SE, which does not include a blood oxygen detection feature, is not affected.

Apple issued the following statement in response to the initial ITC decision.

«At Apple, we work tirelessly to create products and services that meaningfully impact users’ lives. It’s what drives our teams — Clinical, Design and Engineering — to dedicate years to developing scientifically validated health, fitness and wellness features for Apple Watch, and we are inspired that millions of people around the world have benefited greatly from this product. We strongly disagree with the USITC decision and resulting exclusion order, and are taking all measures to return Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 to customers in the U.S. as soon as possible.»

Masimo CEO Joe Kiani had said the January decision «should help restore fairness in the market.»

Can I buy the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 from other retailers?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are both on sale again at retailers in addition to Apple. The ITC order affected US sales of the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 through Apple, but 9to5Mac points out that the order prohibited Apple from importing these watches and selling them to resellers, which could limit the watches’ availability should both watches become restricted from sale at a later date.

The order only applied to sales in the US, meaning the Series 9 and Ultra 2 were still available abroad.

Best Buy and Walmart both confirmed that they would continue selling the Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2. Amazon and Target did not respond to CNET’s question about whether the affected watches will continue to be sold, but all four retailers continued offering both watches through their websites.

Which Apple Watch models are affected?

The Apple Watch Series 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 are the only models affected. Since the legal dispute involves the blood oxygen sensing tech used in the Apple Watch, the Apple Watch SE continues to be sold as usual. The Apple Watch SE is the lower-end model in Apple’s lineup, meaning it’s missing some health tracking features like blood oxygen sensing and the ability to take an ECG.

Current Apple Watches with blood oxygen monitoring, which includes any non-SE models starting with the Series 6, also remain unaffected. There is no impact for those who already own the Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2.

What is Masimo and why did Apple halt sales?

Masimo is a medical technology company that creates professional and consumer health products, including a smartwatch called the Masimo W1. The ITC order is the latest development in an ongoing legal dispute between Apple and Masimo, in which the latter accused Apple of infringing on its pulse oximeter patents.

What happens next?

Apple said it’s pursuing a range of legal and technical options to permanently resume Apple Watch Series 9 and Ultra 2 sales.

Apple is awaiting the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to hear the company’s motion for a stay on the temporary lifting of the sales ban, which is expected to take place as early as Jan. 15. Apple is requesting that sales be allowed during the entire duration of the company’s appeal.

Apple is also working on a proposed redesign in an effort to no longer infringe on Masimo’s patents, about which the customs office will review and issue a ruling on Jan. 12, according to Reuters.

Apple didn’t provide details about what the proposed redesign entails. Ahead of the decision being finalized, Bloomberg reported that Apple was developing a software change that alters how the watches monitor and present blood oxygen levels as a workaround.

If I can’t buy an Apple Watch Series 9 or Ultra 2, what are my alternatives?

Those with an iPhone who just want a smartwatch for tracking activity, workouts and sleep should consider the $249 Apple Watch SE. While it lacks ECG and blood oxygen monitoring, it can still provide notifications for high and low heart rates and irregular heart rhythms.

The Apple Watch SE is the best choice for those who are most comfortable in Apple’s ecosystem, but other options work across iPhone and Android, like the Fitbit Versa 4 and Garmin Venu 3.

Those who are specifically looking to monitor blood oxygen levels from home should consider buying a standalone pulse oximeter, said Jennifer Schrack, a professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

«Consumer wearables are a great supplemental way for people to stay informed about their health, but they are subject to error,» Schrack said over email. «It is important to remember that they are measuring blood oxygen using PPG sensors, which can be affected by things like skin tone.»

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for March 10, #1003

Here are some hints and the answers for the NYT Connections puzzle for March 10, No. 1,003

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s NYT Connections puzzle is a fun and diverse mix. If you know your US states, you’ll surely solve the blue category early. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including the number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Think Julia Child.

Green group hint: Also, Bro and Sis.

Blue group hint: Minn. and Ore. are two others.

Purple group hint: Hit with your fist.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Cook with dry heat.

Green group: Familial nicknames.

Blue group: US state abbreviations.

Purple group: Punch

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is cook with dry heat. The four answers are brown, roast, sear and toast.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is familial nicknames. The four answers are Cuz, Gram, Pop and Unc.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is US state abbreviations. The four answers are Mass, Miss, Penn and Wash.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is punch. The four answers are box, duke, slug and sock.

Technologies

Today’s Wordle Hints, Answer and Help for March 10, #1725

Here are hints and the answer for today’s Wordle for March 10, No. 1,725.

Looking for the most recent Wordle answer? Click here for today’s Wordle hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Connections, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Wordle puzzle is a tough one. It’s a word I don’t think many people use often, and some might not know it at all. If you need a new starter word, check out our list of which letters show up the most in English words. If you need hints and the answer, read on.

Today’s Wordle hints

Before we show you today’s Wordle answer, we’ll give you some hints. If you don’t want a spoiler, look away now.

Wordle hint No. 1: Repeats

Today’s Wordle answer has no repeated letters.

Wordle hint No. 2: Vowels

Today’s Wordle answer has two vowels.

Wordle hint No. 3: First letter

Today’s Wordle answer begins with S.

Wordle hint No. 4: Last letter

Today’s Wordle answer ends with L.

Wordle hint No. 5: Meaning

Today’s Wordle answer can refer to a sandbank or sandbar that makes water shallow.

TODAY’S WORDLE ANSWER

Today’s Wordle answer is SHOAL.

Yesterday’s Wordle answer

Yesterday’s Wordle answer, March 9, No. 1,724, was HASTY.

Recent Wordle answers

March 5, No. 1,720: SHEEP

March 6, No. 1,721: GUNKY

March 7, No. 1,722: VOGUE

March 8, No. 1,723: LOBBY

Technologies

Apple’s iPhone 17E vs. iPhone 17, Air, Pro, Pro Max: Comparing the Full Lineup

How Apple’s lower-cost iPhone 17E matches up with its more-expensive sibling phones.

Apple’s latest addition to its iPhone 17 lineup is the lower-cost iPhone 17E. Just like last year’s iPhone 16E, the iPhone 17E is priced at $599 and is meant to be Apple’s entry-level offering for the year. But the 17E has a number of upgrades over its predecessor, such as double the starting storage space at 256GB, MagSafe compatibility and a faster A19 chip.

It’s still fairly basic compared with the Air and the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup, though. The 17E only has one camera, no Dynamic Island and no Camera Control button. Also, even though it has a 12-megapixel selfie camera, the 17E lacks the Center Stage feature — which automatically switches between portrait and landscape — that’s on the Air and the rest of the iPhone 17 series.

Here’s how the iPhone 17E compares with the Air and the iPhone 17 lineup.

Design and display

With a 6.1-inch OLED display, the iPhone 17E has the smallest display compared with the rest of its siblings. Both the iPhone 17 and the 17 Pro have a slightly larger 6.3-inch display, while the iPhone Air has a 6.5-inch screen, and the 17 Pro Max has the biggest screen of them all with a 6.9-inch OLED display.

While the Air and the rest of the iPhone 17 models have a 120Hz variable refresh rate, the iPhone 17E is the only one with just a 60Hz refresh rate. That means the animations won’t be quite as smooth, and you won’t get an always-on display. However, if you’re upgrading from an older iPhone like the iPhone 16, you might not notice as big a difference.

Design-wise, the iPhone 17E lacks the Dynamic Island that’s on the Air and the rest of the iPhone 17 series. It doesn’t have a physical Camera Control button either.

It does, however, come in an aluminum frame and is protected by the Ceramic Shield 2, which is on par with the rest of the iPhone 17 lineup. The exception is the iPhone Air, which has a titanium frame. At 0.31-inch thick, the iPhone 17E is just as slender as the iPhone 17 — definitely not as skinny as the 0.22-inch thick iPhone Air. It is quite light, though, at 169 grams (5.96 ounces), which is just a bit heavier than the Air’s weight of 165 grams.

Cameras

Like the 16E, the iPhone 17E only has a single 48-megapixel rear camera. It does have sensor cropping, which offers 2x magnification. The iPhone Air also has only a single 48-megapixel rear camera. The iPhone 17 has two: a 48-megapixel wide and a 48-megapixel ultrawide. Both the 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max have three: a 48-megapixel wide, a 48-megapixel ultrawide and a 48-megapixel telephoto that has 4x optical zoom but can double up to 8x at 12 megapixels.

The 17E has a 12-megapixel front-facing camera, while the Air, the 17, the 17 Pro and the 17 Pro Max all have an 18-megapixel selfie shooter. Additionally, the 17E lacks the Center Stage feature that automatically switches between portrait and landscape orientations.

Storage, processors and battery

The iPhone 17E starts with a base storage of 256GB, which is double that of the 16E and brings it up to par with the Air and the rest of the iPhone 17 series. All the phones are also available with 512GB, while the Pro and Pro Max are the only ones available in a 1TB configuration.

The 17E is powered by Apple’s latest A19 chip, which is the same as on the iPhone 17, except the 17E has a quad-core GPU while the 17 has five cores. The iPhone Air, 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max are all powered by Apple’s A19 Pro.

As for battery, the 17E has the same battery as the 16E, with a 4,005-mAh battery and roughly 26 hours of video playback, according to Apple. That’s actually slightly larger than the iPhone 17’s 3,692-mAh battery and the Air’s 3,149-mAh battery. The 17 Pro and 17 Pro Max top out the battery charts with a 4,252- and 5,088-mAh battery, respectively. Still, the iPhone 17E’s battery should hold up well thanks to the A19 processor, C1X cellular modem and the power management of iOS 26.

The 17E gets MagSafe, which was sorely missing in the 16E. This lets the iPhone 17E work with magnetic chargers and accessories. It also has up to 15 watts of Qi2 wireless charging. The iPhone Air and the rest of the 17 lineup offer fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using a 30-watt adapter or higher with MagSafe charging.

Check out the chart below to see all the ways these phones match up.

Apple iPhone 17E vs. iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max

	Apple iPhone 17E	Apple iPhone 17	Apple iPhone Air	Apple iPhone 17 Pro
Display size, tech, resolution, refresh rate	6.1-inch OLED display; 2,532×1,170 pixels; 60Hz refresh rate	6.3-inch OLED; 2,622×1,206 pixels; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.5-inch OLED; 2,736×1,260 pixels; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate	6.3-inch OLED; 2,622×1,206 pixels; 1-120Hz variable refresh rate
Pixel density	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi	460 ppi
Dimensions (inches)	5.78×2.82×0.31	5.89×2.81×0.31	6.15×2.94×0.22	5.91×2.83×0.34
Dimensions (millimeters)	146.7×71.5×7.8	149.6×71.5×7.95	156.2×74.7×5.64	150.0×71.9×8.75
Weight (grams, ounces)	167g (5.88 oz.)	177g (6.24 oz.)	165g (5.82 oz.)	206g (7.27 oz.)
Mobile software	iOS 26	iOS 26	iOS 26	iOS 26
Camera	48-megapixel (wide)	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide)	48-megapixel (wide)	48-megapixel (wide) 48-megapixel (ultrawide) 48-megapixel (4x, 8x telephoto)
Front-facing camera	12-megapixel	18-megapixel	18-megapixel	18-megapixel
Video capture	4K	4K	4K	4K
Processor	Apple A19	Apple A19	Apple A19 Pro	Apple A19 Pro
RAM + storage	RAM unknown + 256GB, 512GB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	RAM N/A + 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
Expandable storage	None	None	None	None
Battery	4,005 mAh	3,692 mAh	3,149 mAh	4,252 mAh
Fingerprint sensor	None, Face ID	None, Face ID	None, Face ID	None, Face ID
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C
Headphone jack	None	None	None	None
Special features	MagSafe, Qi2 charging (up to 15W), Action button, Apple C1 5G modem, Apple Intelligence, Ceramic Shield, Emergency SOS, satellite connectivity, IP68 resistance	Apple N1 wireless networking chip: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 6, Thread, Action button, Camera Control button, Dynamic Island, Apple Intelligence, Visual Intelligence, dual eSIM, 1 to 3,000 nits brightness display range, IP68 resistance; colors: black, white, mist blue, sage, lavender; fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable; fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger	Apple N1 wireless networking chip: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 6, thread, Action button, Apple C1X cellular modem, Camera Control button, Dynamic Island, Apple Intelligence, Visual Intelligence, Dual eSIM, 1 to 3,000 nits brightness display range, IP68 resistance; colors: space black, cloud white, light gold, sky blue; fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 20W adapter or higher via charging cable; fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger	Apple N1 wireless networking chip: Wi-Fi 7 (802.11be) with 2×2 MIMO, Bluetooth 6, Thread, Action button, Camera Control button, Dynamic Island, Apple Intelligence, Visual Intelligence, dual eSIM, ProRes Raw video recording, Genlock video support, 1 to 3,000 nits brightness display range, IP68 resistance; colors: silver, cosmic orange, deep blue; fast charge up to 50% in 20 minutes using 40W adapter or higher via charging cable; fast charge up to 50% in 30 minutes using 30W adapter or higher via MagSafe Charger
US price starts at	$599 (256GB)	$829 (256GB)	$999 (256GB)	$1,099 (256GB)