Apple cannot repair older out-of-warranty watches during ban

Apple customer service teams were informed in a company memo this week that it will no longer replace out-of-warranty models going back to Apple Watch Series 6, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday.

The iPhone maker had said on Monday it would pause sales of its Series 9 and Ultra 2 smartwatches in the US from this week, in relation to the patent dispute over the technology that enables the blood oxygen feature on the devices. These two models are currently unavailable on Apple's US website.

If a customer has a broken screen, for instance, they would not be able to get the issue fixed by Apple, the Bloomberg News report said, adding the company will still offer help that can be done via software, such as reinstalling the operating system.

Company representatives were told to inform affected customers they will be contacted when hardware replacements are allowed again, according to the report.

Apple did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.