Apple has announced a redesigned Health app for iPhone and iPad that uses Apple Intelligence to turn heart, sleep, readiness and fitness data into a daily summary, plus a Longevity tab with a Health Age figure, arriving later this year starting in US English. It arrives alongside a new readiness score on Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, and watchOS 27, which reaches Apple Watch Series 9 and later from Monday 14 September.
Every product fact here comes from Apple's release. The watch hardware, its sensors, battery, Audio Intelligence and pricing, is in our Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 article, so we do not repeat it.
Table of Contents
What the Health app now does
Apple describes two new tabs. Insights carries a summary across heart, sleep, readiness, fitness, vitals and cycle tracking, with a For You section that suggests things like a better wind-down routine after a run of late nights. Longevity reads your history across heart health, sleep, mental wellbeing, movement, metabolic health, hearing and nutrition, and adds Health Age, which uses Apple Watch data such as VO2 max, resting heart rate, sleep and HRV to show how your numbers track against your actual age. Lab results such as A1c and LDL can be added.
Movement evaluations test flexibility, strength, balance, movement mechanics and VO2 max at home with the iPhone camera and Apple Watch. Apple says this runs entirely on device and no video is recorded, stored or shared. Videos from Apple Health clinical experts explain a result, and the app can hand you an exercise plan.
Readiness
On Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4, readiness combines recent activity, vitals and sleep score into one 0 to 10 score each day with one of four recommendations: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It. It updates as new readings arrive and shows which factors drive the number. Apple says the algorithm was developed using data from the Apple Heart and Movement Study.
Cycle Tracking and workouts
With iOS 27, Cycle Tracking adds perimenopause and menopause: users can log either stage, track symptoms, and those aged 40 and over can be notified when logged cycle patterns suggest perimenopause. Workout Buddy now keeps working on Apple Watch when the iPhone is not nearby, in English and Spanish; Apple's footnote still requires a paired Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone, Bluetooth headphones and, away from the iPhone, a Wi-Fi or cellular connection on the watch. GymKit lets AirPods Pro 3 wearers sync heart rate, through iPhone, with compatible gym equipment such as treadmills and indoor bikes.
What you need
| Feature | Requirement, per Apple |
|---|---|
| watchOS 27 | Apple Watch Series 9 or later, SE 3, Ultra 2 or later, with iPhone 11 or later or iPhone SE 3 on iOS 27; from Monday 14 September |
| Readiness, five-second heart rate, high-frequency HRV | Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4 |
| Redesigned Health app | Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone and iPad on the latest software; select features iPhone only; later this year |
| Health Age | Apple Watch |
| VO2 max estimate | Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 3 or a third-party heart rate sensor |
| Lab booking | USD 119, about 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations, US only |
Apple Intelligence itself runs on iPhone 15 Pro models and iPhone 16 or later, per Apple's support page. Some features require users to be 18 or older.
Our own take on choosing between the SE, Series and Ultra lines, before this update lands:
Is there a subscription?
Apple's release does not mention Fitness+ or any subscription for these features. The only price in it is the US lab booking at USD 119, and the release gives no other price. Its footnote does say that some server-side Apple Intelligence features carry daily usage limits and that expanded access "will be available for a fee in the future", without naming any Health feature.
If you work on a phone
A shoot day is a physical day, and readiness gives you a number before you commit to twelve hours on your feet. The movement evaluation uses the iPhone's own camera, on device, so it fits a phone-first kit. We intend to test whether the score matches how a crew feels after a night shoot before we trust it to plan one.
Malaysia
What Apple has said: watchOS 27 arrives Monday 14 September with no country limit stated for the update, though not all features are available on all devices or in all regions. The redesigned Health app starts in US English "with more languages to follow", with no countries named. Workout Buddy is English and Spanish. The lab booking is US only. The release says availability "may vary due to local laws and regulations", without naming any feature that is waiting on a regulator here. Apple's support page says Apple Intelligence is available in most regions in English and fifteen other languages, names China mainland as the exception, and does not mention Malaysia either way.
So Apple has not stated Malaysian availability for the redesigned Health app, Health Age or readiness, and we will not guess a date; we update this page when apple.com/my lists them. The phones that qualify are already priced: Apple Malaysia's release lists the iPhone 18 Pro from RM5,499 and the 18 Pro Max from RM5,999 (our launch report), with our record of every iPhone launch price in Malaysia since 2017 and the rest of the night on our keynote page.
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