Product1 publisher2 min readPublished
iOS 27 lets a GymKit treadmill read heart rate from AirPods Pro 3
Apple's gym-equipment pairing has been an Apple Watch feature for years. In iOS 27 the iPhone can run the session and take the pulse from the earbuds, while the machine still supplies incline and belt distance.
The Product Desk · Product desk
What happened
- GymKit, which had worked only with Apple Watch since it shipped, now syncs a workout from an iPhone in iOS 27 using the heart rate sensor in AirPods Pro 3.
- Apple stores the resulting workout data privately on the iPhone and removes it from the gym equipment when the session ends.
- The same release adds Custom EQ to five models: AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Max 2, AirPods 5, and AirPods 4.
Compiled by The Product DeskSomething wrong?How this is made
Why it matters
- capability A customer who never bought an Apple Watch can now produce a machine-verified workout record with hardware already in their ears, so the wrist stops being the only place a sanctioned session can begin.
- constraint The earbud is only one half of the pairing. Anything built on this works only on gym floors where the equipment supports GymKit, so the size of the audience is set by machine purchasing cycles at gym chains.
- decision A fitness team weighing a heart-rate feature has to decide whether to plan on undocumented third-party access, because the published account routes the data to the equipment and to Apple's own Fitness app.
- cost Support macros, onboarding screenshots, and help articles that name a path through AirPods settings have to be rechecked before users update, and that work lands on the docs and support owners rather than the team shipping the feature.
The treadmill console showed a heart rate that came out of a pair of earbuds. Apple's GymKit has been around for years, and until iOS 27 it only worked with Apple Watch, according to 9to5Mac [1]. It pairs a device with compatible cardio machines, including treadmills, ellipticals, and indoor bikes [3].
The exchange runs both ways. The treadmill got heart rate from the AirPods Pro 3, and the Fitness app on the iPhone got the treadmill's distance, pace, incline, and calorie data [6]. 9to5Mac's Zac, who tried the feature, wrote: "Treadmills know details that an iPhone and AirPods can't know on their own, especially incline and precise belt distance" [7].
The session requires an iPhone on iOS 27, AirPods Pro 3, and a machine whose maker supports GymKit [2][3]. Two of those three are in your user's pocket, and the third belongs to whoever bought the gym's equipment.
This account does not settle the developer question. 9to5Mac describes the heart rate going to the treadmill and to Apple's Fitness app, and does not mention access for third-party apps [19]. A team that puts AirPods Pro 3 on its roadmap as a readable heart-rate source for its own app is assuming that much.
The hardware spread is narrow at the sensor end. Custom EQ in iOS 27 covers AirPods Pro 3, AirPods Pro 2, AirPods Max 2, AirPods 5, and AirPods 4 [10], five models, and the heart-rate feature names one of them [18]. The price on that one is moving: 9to5Mac's deals list has AirPods Pro 3 at $199, down from $249 [16], which is $50 off, about 20 percent [17].
The support desk gets a different set of changes. iOS 27 reorganizes AirPods settings into more categories and submenus with colorful icons [13], so a help article that walks a user to Audio & Routing, then Equalizer, then Custom needs checking against the new layout [9]. Precision Finding on Apple Watch now covers the AirPods Pro 3 case, using its second-generation ultra wideband chip [11][12].
Any candidate feature here falls into one of two columns. One column needs only the pulse; that comes from an earbud your user may already own. The other needs incline and belt distance; those come only from a machine you did not sell and cannot update. Apple's own Fitness app sits in the second column, and the hands-on that produced these details ran on a treadmill that already supported GymKit, where the reporter tapped the iPhone to the machine, picked Indoor Walk, and started the workout from the equipment [4].
What to watch
- Whether Apple documents a route for AirPods Pro 3 heart rate into third-party apps, or keeps it inside GymKit and the Fitness app.
- Whether cardio equipment makers refresh GymKit support now that the pairing no longer requires a customer to own an Apple Watch.
- Whether the $199 AirPods Pro 3 price holds after the current deal, since it sets the entry cost for the only model with the sensor.