Apple watchOS 27 and iPadOS 27 Health Updates Explained

In the Surprise and Shine event, Apple has revealed health and fitness enhancements coming to watchOS 27 and iPadOS 27. The event featured the iPhone 18 Pro variants, iPhone Duo, Apple Watch Series 12, Apple Watch Ultra 4, and the AirPods 5.

The latest updates bring improvements to Apple’s health ecosystem, including a more advanced Workout Buddy experience on Apple Watch and a redesigned Health app on iPad with Apple Intelligence powered insights. These features aim to help users better understand their fitness progress and long-term health data.

watchOS 27 Release Date and Compatible Devices

Apple will release watchOS 27 starting from September 14, 2023, for:

Apple Watch Series 9 and newer
Apple Watch SE 3 and newer
Apple Watch Ultra 2 and newer

The system upgrade is available for an iPhone 11 or newer and iPhone SE (2nd generation, 2020), which runs iOS 27.

The revamped health application will be supported by compatible iPhones and iPads, but some features will not be available for iPad and will be exclusive for iPhone.

watchOS 27 Adds More Data to Workout Buddy

One of the key highlights of watchOS 27 is the enhanced Workout Buddy application. It can run independently without an iPhone, allowing you to receive personalized feedback on your workouts right on your Apple Watch.

Workout Buddy will analyze more workout data to offer personalized recommendations and will be available in both Spanish and English languages.

It can be accessed independently of an iPhone only if your Apple Watch has Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity. You will still need to have compatible headphones or speakers. The setup of Workout Buddy requires an Apple Intelligence-enabled iPhone.

Improved Indoor Workout Tracking

watchOS 27 also improves treadmill tracking through new machine learning models.

According to Apple, these enhancements will bring precision to distance calculations during indoor walking and running sessions, starting at the beginning of the workout session.

New Menstrual Health Tracking Features

New functionalities have been introduced to help users keep track of their menstruation cycle, which includes perimenopausal and menopausal tracking.

Apple’s Cycle Tracking function will notify users if there is any indication of perimenopause based on their recorded cycle data history.

AirPods Pro 3 Heart Rate Data Support

With watchOS 27, users can link their AirPods Pro 3 heart rate data to compatible gym equipment using their iPhone.

The compatible gym equipment includes:

Treadmills
Cycling machines

With this feature, users can have access to their heart rate on the compatible workout machines.

iPadOS 27 Brings Apple Intelligence-Powered Health App

Longevity is the new section in iPadOS 27 that has been added for information regarding long-term health.

In addition to this, there is another feature called Health Age, where the user can see how their health measurements compare to their chronological age.

According to Apple, the following are among the sources of information that the Health Age tool can utilise: