Apple is giving the Health app a major redesign in iOS 27, bringing Apple Intelligence guidance, new health scores, expanded activity and recovery tracking, lab results, movement assessments, and new cycle tracking features. The redesigned experience will arrive on iPhone and iPad in late 2026.
The update is closely tied to the new health-sensing hardware in Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. The watches collect more frequent heart and heart rate variability data, which feeds into the redesigned Health app and its new personalized features.
Apple Intelligence Adds Personalized Health Guidance
The redesigned Health app introduces an Insights section that uses Apple Intelligence to turn health and fitness data into personalized information. It can surface timely updates such as changes in sleep metrics or a new peak in VO2 max, while the For You section provides recommendations based on individual goals and trends.
Personal Guidance adapts to what users are working toward. Someone focusing on cardiovascular fitness, for example, could receive a recommendation to add intervals to a morning run.
The new Readiness feature gives users a score from 0 to 10 based on recent activity, vital signs, and sleep. It can classify a user’s condition as Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It, with the result available on Apple Watch, in the Fitness app, and in the Health app’s Insights section.
Insights also incorporates daily fitness information and updates throughout the day. The Vitals section gains separate overnight and daytime views, while HRV is added as a more prominent recovery metric, including overall HRV and recovery HRV.
Apple is also adding a new Longevity section that combines iPhone and Apple Watch data across heart health, sleep, mental wellbeing, movement health, metabolic health, hearing, and nutrition. Each area is compared against the latest clinical guidance to show how the user’s metrics are classified.
Health Age is part of the Longevity experience. It uses information such as VO2 max, resting heart rate, HRV, sleep, and bloodwork biomarkers to compare health metrics with a person’s actual age. The feature is designed to help users identify which habits are having the biggest effect on their health and where improvements may be possible.
Lab Results And At-Home Health Assessments
The redesigned Health app can incorporate laboratory results uploaded manually or synced from medical records. Apple is also partnering with Quest Diagnostics to let users in the U.S. order a bloodwork panel directly through the Health app.
The Quest panel costs $119 and covers more than 50 biomarkers. Users still need to visit a Quest location for the blood draw, after which the results can be combined with Apple Watch data and analyzed on the iPhone. Apple says clinical experts will also provide videos related to users’ results.
The panel is intended to provide preventive health information covering areas such as cardiometabolic health and organ function. It also includes measurements for blood pressure, height, weight, and waist and hip circumference. Quest has around 2,000 locations across the U.S., and results are expected to appear in the Health app shortly after testing.
Apple is also adding at-home movement assessments. Users will be able to complete evaluations for VO2 max, flexibility, strength, balance, and movement mechanics using the iPhone camera and guided instructions from a trainer.
The assessments provide real-time audio and visual feedback and can be used to monitor physical performance or track recovery after an injury. Processing takes place on the device, and Apple says the video is not recorded or stored. After completing an assessment, users receive an exercise plan based on their results.
Cycle Tracking is also expanding with new support for perimenopause and menopause, giving users more ways to track changes during these stages.
New Apple Watch Sensors Feed The Health App
The Health app redesign takes advantage of major sensor changes in Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. Apple’s new Health Sensing System includes a larger electrode surface for improved skin contact during ECG readings, redesigned photodiodes arranged in a ring for more efficient optical sensing, and more power-efficient green LEDs for continuous heart rate monitoring.
The new Apple Watch models take heart rate readings every five seconds throughout the day and measure heart rate variability more frequently. Apple says a head-to-head study using an ECG chest strap as the reference found the new Apple Watch had the most accurate heart rate sensing among the wearables tested.
iOS 27 Health App Compatibility
The redesigned Health app will be available to users with an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone, so access to the new experience is not limited to Apple Watch Series 12 or Apple Watch Ultra 4.
However, some of the most advanced health features depend on the newer Apple Watch hardware. The Readiness score, more frequent heart rate readings, and more frequent HRV measurements require an Apple Watch Series 12 or Apple Watch Ultra 4.
This means an older compatible Apple Watch can still contribute health data to the redesigned Health app, but it will not provide the additional sensing capabilities introduced with Apple’s latest watches.
iOS 27 Health App Launch Date
Apple says the redesigned Health app will launch in late 2026. It will initially be available in U.S. English, with additional languages planned for later.
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