Apple Health Overhaul in iOS 27.2 Beta Adds AI Data Features but Requires Newer Hardware

The app is part of an AI overhaul Apple plans for later this year. Android Authority reported that the new Health app requires an iPhone capable of running Apple Intelligence, meaning an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or newer. Older iPhones will remain on the existing Apple Health app. That is more restrictive than Google Health, which the report said works with devices running at least Android 11 or iOS 16.4.

The writer installed the iOS 27.2 developer beta on an iPhone Air and used an Apple Watch Ultra 3. The redesigned app opens to an Insights tab that includes Activity Ring data front and center; previously users had to move between the Fitness and Health apps to see Apple Watch metrics. A Longevity tab estimates health age from the Apple Watch’s underlying fitness data.

The app also offers personalized tests that use the Apple Watch and the iPhone camera to produce a more accurate health age estimate. Android Authority said the tests use vision-based AI models to analyze health, and users can retake them to track progress. One evaluation is a VO2 max test, which the report described as the first manual VO2 max test for Apple Health and without a Google Health equivalent.

Health age is not available in Google Health, according to the report, though it is supported by Garmin, WHOOP, and Oura. The writer saw a health age immediately but said more fitness, sleep, and test data would be needed for an accurate figure.

The writer could not try Apple’s new Readiness feature because the Apple Watch Ultra 3 is not compatible. Android Authority reported that Apple is behind Google Health in adding a readiness score. Google Health’s score estimates the body’s readiness for the day and planned workouts on a one-to-100 scale. Apple’s score uses a zero-to-10 scale and gives one of four recommendations: Recover, Pace Yourself, Ready, or Go For It.

Apple’s Readiness score requires the latest Apple Watch Series 12 or Ultra 4, the report said. The writer paid $800 for an Apple Watch Ultra 3 a year ago and called the limitation a dangerous precedent, asking whether users are expected to buy a new $800 smartwatch every year.

Apple has given a hardware reason for the restriction. Android Authority reported that the readiness score uses the Health Sensing System, which includes new optical and electrical heart rate sensors and works with the upgraded S11 chip. Heart rate is measured every five seconds, and heart rate variability is measured up to 24 times as often as before. According to Apple, the Apple Watch Ultra 3 does not have the hardware to provide an accurate readiness score.

Even in a bare-bones version of the new app, the report said Apple is taking a data-driven approach. Apple Intelligence provides short AI summaries of metrics in the Insights tab. These summaries do not appear to offer advice or to be overly wordy, and they remain backed by data points, graphs, and charts as in the older Apple Health app.

The Android Authority writer, who had switched to Google Health after buying a Fitbit Air, said the new Apple Health app is what Google Health should have been. The report also noted that the core difference between the Apple and Google health apps may not be easy to solve.