Apple says its new movement evaluations use the iPhone camera to assess flexibility, strength, balance, movement mechanics and VO2 max, and that the whole process runs entirely on device with no video recorded, stored or shared. That last part is the specific published claim, and it is the one worth reading closely.
The camera is being used as a sensor rather than a recorder. Apple’s description says the analysis happens on the phone, and that nothing it sees is kept or sent anywhere. Beyond those three statements, Apple has published very little about how the tests actually run.
| Item | What Apple published |
|---|---|
| What it measures | Flexibility, strength, balance, movement mechanics, VO2 max |
| Where it runs | Entirely on device |
| Video | None recorded, stored or shared |
| Hardware | iPhone camera plus Apple Watch |
| VO2 max heart rate source | Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 3 or a third-party heart rate device |
| Development | Apple says the evaluations were developed with clinicians |
| Availability | Part of the redesigned Health app, later this year, U.S. English first |
The five things Apple says it measures
- Flexibility
- Strength
- Balance
- Movement mechanics
- VO2 max
Apple calls them at-home physical assessments. Four are movement measures taken with the camera. The fifth, VO2 max, needs a heart rate source as well, which is why it carries its own hardware list.
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What Apple says happens to the camera feed
The published description has three parts: the evaluations run entirely on device, no video is recorded, and nothing is stored or shared. Apple makes the same on-device point about the Health app work generally, and the Series 12 S11 chip includes a Secure Exclave that Apple uses for on-device audio processing with immediate deletion.
That is the whole of the disclosure. Apple has not described the models doing the analysis, whether frames are held in memory while a test runs, or what the phone keeps afterwards beyond the result itself.
What you need besides an iPhone
| Evaluation | What Apple says you need |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | iPhone camera and Apple Watch |
| Strength | iPhone camera and Apple Watch |
| Balance | iPhone camera and Apple Watch |
| Movement mechanics | iPhone camera and Apple Watch |
| VO2 max | Apple Watch, AirPods Pro 3 or a third-party heart rate device |
For the Health app as a whole Apple 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. It has not published which iPhone models can run the camera evaluations specifically, and the redesigned app is also described as an Apple Intelligence feature.
Developed with clinicians, not cleared by a regulator
Apple says the evaluations were developed with clinicians. That is a statement about who helped design them. It is not a statement about regulatory status, and the two should not be confused.
No FDA or other clearance sentence appears anywhere in Apple’s health and fitness announcement. Apple presents the redesigned Health app as guidance built from your own data, and states elsewhere that the Vitals app is for wellness and not for medical use. A movement evaluation is a fitness measurement. Apple has not said it detects, diagnoses or rules out any condition.
Some features in the redesigned Health app require users to be 18 or over. Apple has not said whether the movement evaluations are among them, and our event recap covers the rest of the health announcement.
What Apple has not said
There is no published set-up guide. Apple has given no test duration, no instruction on where to prop the phone, no stated distance, no minimum floor space and no recommended frequency.
It has not published what a result looks like, whether it produces a score, a range or a comparison, whether results can be exported or shown to a clinician, or which clinicians it worked with. There is no date beyond later this year, and no support documents exist yet for Apple Watch Ultra 4 or the other new hardware.
iOS 27 and watchOS 27 arrive free on Monday, September 14, and Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4 land in stores on Friday, September 18. The redesigned Health app that holds the movement evaluations comes later in 2026, and our iOS 27 guide tracks what ships first.
