Apple has named the ingredients behind Health Age: VO2 max, resting heart rate, sleep and heart rate variability, all measured by Apple Watch, plus lab values such as A1c and LDL that you add yourself. The figure lives in a new Longevity tab that Apple says analyzes long-term data across seven categories.
What Apple has not published is the recipe. There is no weighting, no formula and no explanation of what any particular Health Age number is meant to tell you. The ingredient list does carry one hard requirement, though: an Apple Watch.
| Item | What Apple says |
|---|---|
| Health Age inputs | VO2 max, resting heart rate, sleep and HRV from Apple Watch |
| Optional additions | Lab values such as A1c and LDL |
| Hardware required | Apple Watch |
| Longevity categories | Seven |
| Data sources | iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, clinical records, third-party apps |
| Availability | Later this year, starting in U.S. English |
| Price | No subscription mentioned; the only figure Apple names is $119 for a lab panel |
What Health Age is, in Apple’s description
Apple describes Health Age as a way to see how your metrics track against your chronological age. The comparison is between measured data and the number of years you have lived. It is not described as a prediction of anything.
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It requires an Apple Watch because all four named inputs come from one. An iPhone alone does not produce them, which is the practical reason the feature is tied to the Apple Watch Series 12 generation of hardware and its predecessors.
The four Apple Watch metrics, and the lab values you add
- VO2 max
- Resting heart rate
- Sleep
- Heart rate variability
HRV is where the new hardware shows up. Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4 measure it every five minutes, which Apple calls 24 times more often than the previous generation. Apple has not published how often older watches sample the same metric, or whether a denser stream changes the Health Age result.
Apple names A1c and LDL as examples of lab values a user can add. It has not published a full list of accepted values, and it has not said whether adding any of them changes the figure or simply sits alongside it.
The Health app will also sell the tests. Apple says users can schedule and buy a panel of more than 50 biomarkers for $119 at about 2,000 Quest Diagnostics locations in the US. Which biomarkers are in that panel, and whether the results flow into Health Age automatically, are not published.
The seven categories in the Longevity tab
| Longevity category | Input Apple names for it |
|---|---|
| Heart health | Resting heart rate and HRV are named as Health Age inputs |
| Sleep | Sleep is named as a Health Age input |
| Movement health | VO2 max is named as a Health Age input |
| Metabolic health | None named, though A1c is listed as an addable lab value |
| Mental wellbeing | None published |
| Hearing | None published |
| Nutrition | None published |
Apple says the tab pulls from iPhone, Apple Watch, AirPods, clinical records and third-party apps. It does not say which source feeds which category, so four of the seven categories currently have no published input at all.
What you need, and when it arrives
The redesigned Health app is not part of Monday’s launch. Apple’s wording is that it will be available later this year, starting in U.S. English, with more languages to follow. Our iOS 27 release guide covers what does ship on September 14.
Apple’s health release lists Apple Watch Series 9 or later, Series 12, Ultra 2 or later, Ultra 4 and SE 3, with iPhone 11 or later or iPhone SE 3 or later, or an iPad with Apple Intelligence support. The app redesign is also presented as an Apple Intelligence feature, and Apple has not published a single reconciled device list. Some features require users to be 18 or over.
A wellness figure, not a diagnosis
No regulatory clearance sentence appears anywhere in Apple’s health and fitness announcement. Health Age, the Longevity tab and the Insights tab are presented as guidance built from your own data, and Apple states separately that the Vitals app is for wellness and not for medical use.
Apple’s own framing comes from Sumbul Desai, M.D., its vice president of Health and Fitness, who describes the goal as translating complex biometric data into clear guidance for users. Nothing Apple published says Health Age detects, diagnoses or predicts illness, and a number that compares your metrics with your age is not a test result.
What Apple has not said
The method is unpublished: no weighting, no range, no worked example and no statement of what a good or bad Health Age looks like. Apple has not said how often the figure updates, or what happens to it if you stop wearing the watch.
There is no date beyond later this year, no list of the languages that follow US English, and no indication that any of it costs money. The only price attached to the whole feature set is the $119 lab panel, and our full event recap covers the rest of what Apple announced.
iOS 27 and watchOS 27 arrive free on Monday, September 14, and Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 reach stores on Friday, September 18. The redesigned Health app that holds Health Age follows later in 2026, on a date Apple has not set.
