Apple Announces New Health Study Involving the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods

A new comprehensive Apple Health Study is launching today in the Apple Research app. Apple says U.S. residents can participate in the study if they meet the minimum age requirements, and complete the informed consent process.

Apple Health Study
The new Apple Health Study aims to further understand how technology, including the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, can "play a role in advancing and improving physical health, mental health, and overall wellbeing."

The research study will also "explore relationships between various areas of health, such as mental health's impact on heart rate, or how sleep can influence exercise."

This is Apple's most holistic research study yet. It will track how technology impacts many aspects of health and diseases, including activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health, sleep, and more.

The all-encompassing Apple Health Study builds upon the Apple Women's Health Study, Apple Hearing Study, and Apple Heart and Movement Study.

Apple is conducting the study in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital, a leading research hospital and Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate.

Apple Research is available in the App Store for the iPhone and Apple Watch. The app was updated today with the Apple Health Study.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iPhone 17 Pro Cosmic Orange

8 Reasons to Wait for Next Year's iPhone 18 Pro

Thursday October 30, 2025 4:42 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. One thing worth...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...
ipad mini 7 feature blue

OLED iPad Mini: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Wednesday October 29, 2025 7:13 am PDT by
Rumors are stoking excitement for the next-generation iPad mini that Apple is reportedly close to launching. So what should we expect from the successor to the iPad mini 7 that Apple released over a year ago? Read on to find out. Processor and Performance Apple is working on a next-generation version of the iPad mini (codename J510/J511) that features the A19 Pro chip, according to...
iPhone Car Key Kia

Another Vehicle Brand Gaining iPhone Car Keys Support

Tuesday October 28, 2025 5:27 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to bring support for its digital car key feature to Jetour vehicles, according to evidence uncovered on Apple's backend by MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. Introduced in 2022, Car Keys allows an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock a vehicle through the Wallet app. A digital version of a car key is stored in Wallet, and unlocking can be done by holding an Apple Watch or...

Top Rated Comments

Amazing Iceman Avatar
9 months ago

My experience with these studies and surveys TMI. No guarantee the personal data will not get shared to the insurance industries etc. While they may have medical benefits, TMI collected and floating around the internet a high risk. A direct discussion with a doctor, fine. Sharing my watch and or App data, no.
Apple Studies are kept anonymous. your profile becomes a number that's not related to you personally.
Already there's a lot more personal information about you floating around on the internet that you can imagine.
If this study was conducted by Facebook or Google, then I would be worried.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
DrJR Avatar
9 months ago
Nothing yet for ED….. sigh….
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
9 months ago

Nothing yet for ED….. sigh….
Not until they release the Ring
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
9 months ago
Please also study the human impacts of carrying around an always connected attention sucking addiction device

I call them "iPhones"
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Astuces iOS Avatar
9 months ago
that's the small announcement today? bruh
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
roncron Avatar
9 months ago

I'm a little skeptical they'd ever publish study results that said or implied...

"For your mental health, you really should get rid of your smartphone"

It's like expecting a tobacco industry study to pump out a result of "you should quit smoking"
Your skepticism is very reasonable and understandable.

But I think this case is different. If people reduce their daily phone usage by 25%, Apple still will sell the same number of phones. But if smokers cut their daily tobacco use by 25%, tobacco companies will sell 25% fewer cigarettes.

Also, Apple developed the screen time app (introduced in iOS 12, give or take?) to help people who want to reduce their phone usage. Apple spent money to develop that app, and it’s not clear that the app generates revenue for Apple. I don’t know of any initiatives the tobacco companies have taken to help folks who want to reduce their dependence on tobacco products, with the possible exception of court-ordered actions like warning labels and educational materials.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)