Now that we’ve all suspended our gym memberships and have spent all pandemic working out at home (right?), Apple has decided to use its Apple Watch as a platform for a new streaming fitness subscription service, called Fitness+.
Editor’s Note: Peloton isn’t available in Australia so we have left the U.S pricing in.
The $14.99/month (or $119.99/year) service serves up on-demand workouts led by trainers who can guide you through yoga, spin classes, dancing, treadmill workouts, strength, core HIIT, rowing, and even mindful cool-downs. You start the workout from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV, then that workout syncs to your watch for the most accurate tracking. During the workout, you can see all of your metrics on whatever screen you’re streaming from, and post-workout, your Apple Watch will show you a comprehensive summary on your wrist.
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Every week, Apple will serve up fresh workouts with new trainers. The service comes with a new Fitness app on the iPad and Apple TV, which will offer you personalised recommendations for workouts based on workouts you’ve done previously. You can also choose your own workout, filtering by instructor, class type and class duration, or even the music type. And Fitness+ integrates with Apple Music, so you can find those workout jams later.
The thing I’m most curious to see is how good Apple’s Fitness+ trainers are. If they’re as motivational as Peloton’s instructors are, people who don’t feel like buying a pricy stationary bike and paying a $US39 ($53)/month subscription for all those classes (or subbing to Peloton’s bike-free membership for $US13 ($18)/month) will have a cheaper but equally good option.
Fitness+ doesn’t have a leaderboard like Peloton’s spin classes do, but there is a similar feature called a Burn Bar, which lets you compare your workout to people who have done the same class previously.
New to working out altogether? The Fitness+ service, which will be in the Fitness app on your iPhone, will offer an Absolute Beginner program to get you ready for the studio classes.
Fitness+ will be available by the end of the year, and Apple is offering three months free with the purchase of a new Apple Watch. Fitness+ will also be available as part of a $US30 ($41)/month bundle, Apple One Premier, which also includes Apple News+, Apple TV+, Apple Arcade, Apple Music, and cloud storage.