Apple’s Fitness+ service will launch on 14 December, offering Apple Watch users the chance to get sweaty from home.
Fitness+ was announced alongside the Apple Watch Series 6 and Apple Watch SE back in September.
For the uninitiated, Fitness+ is a subscription workout platform that exclusively uses the Apple Watch (Series 3 or later) for intensity and workout metrics.
Users can access guided and video workouts, accessed on their iPhone, iPad or even Apple TV.
The Apple Watch will provide real-time heart rate metrics on screen, and help assessments of calories burned.
According to Apple, the trainers are geared up to get users to check their heart rates mid-workout, and there’s also a “burn bar”, which shows how intense you’re working.
The idea is that you get a visual feedback on your effort levels, and whether you can push a bit more. It’s not about being faster or better – just making sure you get the most out of a workout.
And when you close an activity ring, it’s shown right there on the screen.
There will be 10 workout types: High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), strength, yoga, dance, core, cycling, treadmill, rowing, and a cooldown.
It’s designed to be done with zero or minimal equipment, with most aspects requiring nothing – or at most a set of dumbbells. However, there are workouts for those with bikes, rowers and other more expensive equipment.
It’s an exciting service, and Apple is clearly looking to hook users in with high profile trainers. Natural comparisons will be made with Peleton, but also other services like Fiit which also use the Apple Watch to record metrics.
The service is set to cost a month or a year. It’s bundled with the new Apple One subscription plan, and as you might imagine, works well with Apple Music integrations. It’s set to launch in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.