Apple is bringing artificial intelligence (AI) deeper into personal health and fitness with a redesigned Health app powered by Apple Intelligence. The updated experience can help users understand their health information, assess certain aspects of their physical fitness and receive personalised guidance based on their data.
One of the most notable additions is a set of at-home physical assessments that use the iPhone camera and compatible Apple devices to evaluate areas such as flexibility, strength, balance, movement mechanics and cardiovascular fitness. The assessments provide guided instructions and feedback, allowing users to perform certain fitness evaluations without visiting a gym.
The development attracted attention after PCMag tested Apple’s new health and fitness features using the iOS 27.2 public beta. During a two-day test, PCMag journalist Andrew Gebhart completed several of the assessments and received personalised feedback and exercise suggestions based on his results.
Apple’s redesigned Health app represents a move beyond conventional fitness tracking. Instead of simply recording steps, workouts and health measurements, the app is designed to help users understand selected aspects of their physical performance and identify areas they may want to improve.
Here’s how Apple’s new AI-powered Health experience works, what its fitness assessments measure and what users need to know about availability and privacy.
What Is Apple’s New AI-Powered Health Experience?
Apple’s redesigned Health app uses Apple Intelligence to provide personalised health insights and make information stored in the Health app easier to understand.
Apple has not officially named the product “AI Health Coach.” That description is being used to describe the app’s new AI-powered health and fitness capabilities.
One of the major additions is the ability to perform certain physical assessments at home. These assessments use the iPhone camera and compatible Apple devices to analyse movement and provide feedback.
Apple says its movement evaluations can assess:
- Flexibility
- Strength
- Balance
- Movement mechanics
- VO₂ max and cardiovascular fitness
The redesigned Health app also includes personalised guidance, exercise recommendations and instructional content that can help users work on areas identified during their assessments.
The broader Health experience includes additional assessments and health information beyond the camera-based movement tests.
How Does Apple’s AI-Powered Fitness Assessment Work?
Users can perform supported assessments by following instructions displayed in the Health app while positioning their iPhone so that its camera can capture their movements.
The system uses vision-based AI models to analyse the movements during the assessment. Relevant information from an Apple Watch or other compatible health devices can also contribute to certain measurements.
The general process involves:
- Start an assessment: Users select an available assessment in the Health app.
- Set up the device: The iPhone is positioned so that its camera can capture the required movements.
- Follow the instructions: The app guides users through the movements or exercises.
- Analyse the performance: The system analyses the relevant movement and health information.
- Review the results: Users receive information about their performance and, where applicable, suggestions for improvement.
Apple says the movement-assessment experience runs entirely on the device. The company also states that video from these assessments is not recorded, stored or shared.
How Many Assessments Does Apple’s Health App Have?
The redesigned Health app includes 17 different assessments, according to Apple’s new Health experience and PCMag’s hands-on testing.
However, it is important to clarify that not all 17 assessments are camera-based fitness tests.
The broader assessment experience covers multiple areas of health and wellbeing. The camera-based physical assessments form one part of that larger experience and focus on physical capabilities such as flexibility, strength, balance and cardiovascular fitness.
This distinction is important because describing all 17 assessments as camera-based movement tests would be inaccurate.
Key Features of Apple’s AI-Powered Health App
1. AI-Powered Physical Fitness Assessments
The new physical assessments are among the most notable additions to Apple’s Health app.
The camera-based movement evaluations can assess areas including:
- Flexibility: Evaluates selected movements that require flexibility.
- Strength: Assesses performance during exercises and strength-related movements.
- Balance: Evaluates the ability to maintain stability during specific movements.
- Movement mechanics: Looks at how users perform certain physical movements.
- VO₂ max: Provides an estimate of cardiovascular fitness when the required compatible hardware and data are available.
The assessments are designed to provide users with additional information about their physical abilities rather than simply recording activity.
2. Personalised Exercise Recommendations
The redesigned Health app can provide personalised guidance based on information available in a user’s Health data and assessment results.
For example, users who receive feedback indicating that a particular area could be improved may be shown exercises, stretches or instructional videos related to that area.
PCMag’s hands-on test found that the app provided recommendations and instructional content after the reviewer completed several assessments.
These recommendations are intended as fitness guidance and should not be treated as medical diagnosis or rehabilitation instructions.
3. Real-Time Audio and Visual Guidance
The physical assessments provide instructions to help users complete the required movements.
Users can follow visual directions on their iPhone while also receiving audio guidance during supported assessments.
This allows users to complete the tests independently rather than requiring another person to demonstrate each movement.
4. AI-Powered Health Insights
The redesigned Health app includes an Insights experience powered by Apple Intelligence.
It can provide summaries and explanations based on available health information, helping users understand changes and patterns in areas such as sleep, fitness, heart health and other measurements.
Apple Intelligence is designed to turn health information into more understandable and personalised insights rather than simply displaying individual measurements.
5. Longevity and Health Age
The redesigned Health app also introduces a Longevity experience that provides a broader view of long-term health trends.
Apple says the Longevity experience covers seven areas:
- Hearing
- Heart health
- Mental wellbeing
- Metabolic health
- Movement
- Nutrition
- Sleep
The app also introduces Health Age, which compares selected health and fitness measurements with a user’s chronological age.
Health Age is based on selected measurements rather than being a comprehensive assessment of someone’s overall health. Depending on the available data and compatible devices, the information can include measurements such as cardiovascular fitness, resting heart rate, sleep and heart-rate variability.
What Did PCMag Find When Testing Apple’s AI Health Features?
PCMag journalist Andrew Gebhart tested Apple’s new Health experience using the iOS 27.2 public beta.
The test lasted two days and included several of the available physical assessments.
The reviewer tested movements designed to evaluate areas such as:
- Flexibility
- Balance
- Strength
- Cardiovascular fitness
The flexibility assessment included movements involving the arms and legs. The balance assessment involved standing on individual feet, while the strength assessment included exercises such as push-ups, planks, squats and chair stands.
The cardiovascular assessment involved progressively increasing walking and running movements in place.
The results showed that the app identified differences between the reviewer’s physical capabilities. PCMag reported positive results in some areas while identifying flexibility and lower-body performance as areas that could be improved.
The Health app subsequently provided suggestions and instructional videos related to the areas identified during the assessments.
PCMag also reported that the assessments were relatively straightforward to complete at home, although the review represents one person’s hands-on experience rather than an independent scientific validation of Apple’s assessment accuracy.
Can Apple’s AI Health Features Replace a Personal Trainer?
Apple’s new Health features can provide automated fitness assessments, movement feedback and personalised exercise suggestions, but they are not the same as working with a personal trainer.
A personal trainer can directly observe a person’s technique, adapt exercises in real time and take individual circumstances into account.
Apple’s system instead provides automated assessments and recommendations based on the information available to the app.
For people looking for basic fitness information and guided exercises at home, the technology can provide an additional source of guidance.
However, people dealing with injuries, medical conditions or rehabilitation needs should seek appropriate advice from a qualified healthcare professional rather than relying solely on an automated fitness assessment.
How Does Apple’s AI Health App Protect Privacy?
Privacy is an important part of Apple’s movement-assessment system.
Apple says the physical movement assessments use vision-based AI models that run entirely on the device. According to Apple, video from the assessments is not recorded, stored or shared.
This means the camera can be used to analyse the user’s movements without Apple retaining the assessment video.
However, this privacy statement specifically relates to the movement-assessment video. It should not be interpreted to mean that every Health app or Apple Intelligence operation is performed entirely on the iPhone.
The Health app can contain information from Apple Watch, connected devices, health records and other sources, so users should continue to review their Health data permissions and sharing settings.
When Will Apple’s New Health App Be Available?
Apple announced the redesigned Health app in September 2026 and said the new experience would arrive later in the year.
The new features were available for testing through the iOS 27.2 public beta, which PCMag used for its hands-on review.
Apple’s availability information indicates that feature availability can depend on the device, operating system, region and language.
Some features also require compatible Apple hardware.
For example, Health Age requires Apple Watch, while certain cardiovascular measurements such as VO₂ max require compatible heart-rate sensing hardware and supported devices.
Apple Intelligence availability also depends on compatible hardware and supported languages and regions.
Users should therefore check Apple’s current compatibility and availability information before assuming that every feature will work on their device.
What Does Apple’s AI Health Technology Mean for the Future of Fitness?
Apple’s redesigned Health app reflects a broader shift in digital fitness from simple activity tracking toward more personalised health guidance.
Traditional fitness apps have primarily focused on tracking steps, workouts, calories, heart rate and other measurements.
Apple’s new approach adds movement assessment to that model. Instead of simply recording what users do, the system can analyse selected physical movements and provide feedback about areas such as flexibility, balance and strength.
The ability to perform certain assessments at home could make basic fitness evaluations more convenient for people who want additional information about their physical abilities.
Personalised recommendations may also help users turn assessment results into practical exercise routines.
However, the usefulness of these features depends on factors including device compatibility, the quality of the available health data, individual circumstances and how users respond to the recommendations.
The technology should therefore be viewed as a fitness and health-information tool rather than a replacement for professional medical assessment or personalised supervision from a qualified fitness professional.
Final Thoughts
Apple’s redesigned Health app brings Apple Intelligence, movement assessment and personalised health guidance together in a single experience.
Its camera-based physical assessments can evaluate selected aspects of fitness, including flexibility, strength, balance, movement mechanics and cardiovascular fitness. Users can perform these assessments at home and receive feedback and recommendations based on their results.
PCMag’s two-day hands-on test with the iOS 27.2 public beta provides an early look at how the system works in practice. The test showed how Apple’s Health app can identify areas where a user may want to improve and then provide related exercise suggestions and instructional content.
The app does not replace a personal trainer, doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. Instead, it provides another way for users to understand selected aspects of their health and fitness using devices they already use.
As AI becomes increasingly integrated into health and fitness technology, Apple’s redesigned Health app shows how smartphones and wearables can move beyond basic tracking toward more personalised health information and guidance.
