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Home› Hardware Receipts› Apple Watch Ultra 3 vs PlayStation 5

Apple Watch Ultra 3 VS PlayStation 5

Apple Watch Ultra 3 PlayStation 5
Verdict DROP IT BUY IT
The Reality The feature has a real, documented history of simply not being available to US buyers. After the US International Trade Commission ruled the blood oxygen sensor infringed two Masimo patents, Apple disabled blood oxygen sensing on US-sold Apple Watches in January 2024 to keep selling the watch at all, and it stayed off for roughly a year and a half. In August 2025 Apple restored a redesigned version -- but the workaround processes the sensor's raw data on a paired iPhone rather than the watch itself, and results can only be viewed on the iPhone, not the watch face. The ITC formally closed the case in April 2026, ending Masimo's ability to revive the ban, but the underlying legal fight ran for over two years. Independent, directly measured tests back up the substance of the claim, even if 'a thing of the past' oversells it slightly. Lead system architect Mark Cerny demonstrated Spider-Man's in-game fast-travel loading time dropping from 8.10 seconds on PS4 Pro to just 0.8 seconds on PS5 -- a 10x improvement. Separately, independent testing found Spider-Man: Miles Morales going from the home screen to the main menu in about 7 seconds on PS5, with saved-progress loading in under 2 seconds, versus roughly 43 seconds on PS4. Loading screens weren't eliminated in every game across the platform, but in the specific, heavily marketed comparisons Sony highlighted, the real-world numbers hold up.
SHORT ANSWER

Apple Watch Ultra 3: Apple Watch's blood oxygen feature was legally disabled for US buyers for about 20 months (January 2024-August 2025) after Apple lost a patent case to Masimo, and its restored version now only works by processing data on a paired iPhone rather than the watch itself.

PlayStation 5: Sony's claim that the PS5's SSD would make loading screens a thing of the past is backed by real, independently measured results -- including an 8.10-second to 0.8-second fast-travel improvement in Spider-Man, demonstrated directly by lead architect Mark Cerny.