You may no longer need an Apple Watch to track your workouts with iOS 27

Apple’s commitment to the Apple Watch is still huge. However, over the years it has offered users other ways to track their workouts, which is especially great for customers who don’t like to wear a watch while training or can’t get accurate data due to tattoos. With iOS 27, Apple further expands the ability for customers to get important health data while working out with iPhone and gym equipment. That said, there is also another important component to getting the most out of your exercises, and that is the AirPods Pro 3.

With iOS 27, scheduled for release later in September, Apple is expanding GymKit functionality, as AirPods Pro 3 users can sync heart rate data through iPhone. With this, GymKit no longer requires an Apple Watch, and an iPhone and AirPods Pro 3 will do the trick. Basically, you can tap your iPhone directly to an NFC reader on a compatible cardio machine to initiate a GymKit workout. The iPhone will get all the data from the equipment, like speed, incline, distance and pace, while the AirPods Pro 3 will measure your heart rate. This gives a more accurate understanding of your training effort and how you responded to the elevation of the treadmill, faster pace, etc.

While new support for GymKit won’t arrive until later this year with iOS 27, iPhone and AirPods Pro 3 users can already enjoy other ways to workout without an Apple Watch. For example, if you’re an Apple Fitness+ subscriber, you can use your iPhone and AirPods to do yoga, HIIT, dancing, and more. Thanks to the heart rate monitor present in each AirPods earphone, Apple can obtain important information to estimate calories burned and perceived exertion.

In this way, doing yoga without a watch, performing a dance session, etc. can still generate workout data even without the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor. For those who like to run, you can even run with just your iPhone and AirPods Pro 3. In this case, the data collection is similar: the iPhone will be responsible for your pace, altitude gains and total distance, while the AirPods will check how your body reacts to exercise.

Quite the contrary. With watchOS 27, Apple improves indoor walking and running workouts with new algorithms that can better reflect your movements, effort, and pace on a treadmill. Another important feature of watchOS 27 allows Workout Buddy to work without your iPhone, once again bringing the freedom of exercising with just an Apple Watch and AirPods. That said, what’s happening here is that Apple is trying to give users more options for getting their workouts done.

This strategy began to take shape when Apple announced that customers could enjoy Apple Fitness+ with just the iPhone. As the company tried to attract more subscribers, this allowed more users to enjoy one of the best fitness services available. And with the release of the Powerbeats Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3, Apple now offers more accurate heart rate data because instead of users relying on a single sensor, Apple evaluates in real time which device is the best source with the best coverage to provide this information to users.