The day that Apple built heart-rate monitoring into AiPods Pro 3 was the day that my Apple Watch became something of a disposable item. For those who don a Watch primarily for filling rings and logging workouts, buds that obtain accurate pulse data while also delivering music and noise cancellation are not just a boon; they redefine the very concept of a “fitness wearable.”
In-ear sensors rework the calculation
Apple’s new in-ear optical sensor monitors heart rate from the ear canal, a location with good blood perfusion and less arm-swing motion than the wrist. Biomedical research published in the IEEE journals demonstrates that compared to wrist readings over vigorous exercise, ear-based PPG is less susceptible to motion artifacts, which makes it enhance beat- to- beat stability and tracking of recovery. Apple says its sensor samples at up to 256 times per second — which should mean more data points to smooth out spikes when you’re sprinting or lifting weights.
For context, Beats’ new Powerbeats Pro 2 samples 100 times per second. On paper, Apple’s increased sampling rate could result in stronger heart rate traces, and possibly superior heart rate variability shots, in steady portions of your workouts. The ear advantage isn’t going to render earbuds medical devices, but it should at least make gym metrics a few degrees more reliable than coming off of a wrist strap that’s thrashing around underneath a hoodie.
Closing rings—no Watch required
Thanks to the most recent Fitness app updates in iOS, you can work out on the iPhone and have heart rate, active time and calorie estimates arrive in your Move ring via the AirPods Pro 3. You can still receive badges and Streaks, and your sessions show up in the Health app as workouts if you’ve done so in the past. Apple’s new Workout Buddy coaching adjusts based on your history, pushing pace or intensity with audio prompts through the buds instead of haptics on your wrist.
That workflow is a reprieve for free-tier Fitness users who do not want to have to deal with yet another screen. Until now, to receive credible in-session heart-rate stats within Apple’s world, you either had to strap an Apple Watch to your wrist, or fiddle around with a third party’s chest strap and app. Today it’s phone plus AirPods as the simplest configuration, providing some of the essentials without paywalls or additional hardware.
Less gear, less friction
Previously, my gym carry would be phone, Watch and AirPods. One had to be charged every night, one every few days, one was always dead when I laced up. AirPods Pro 3 consolidate those requirements into one gadget I was already carrying for music and calls. Unlike certain fitness earbuds which disable audio while reading your blood volume sensors, AirPods continue to let noise cancellation and transparency mode roam free while monitoring your ticker — which is exactly what you’d want on a noisy weight floor or during outdoor intervals.
This reduction in friction matters. Behavioral scientists like to say that small setup costs murder habit formation. If beginning a run means using fewer taps, fewer batteries to worry about and no extra strap to tighten, you just do it more often.
Accuracy and safety trade-offs
There is a limit to what earbuds can replace. An Apple Watch remains unmatched when it comes to passive 24/7 sensing — for both irregular rhythm notifications and daytime HRV baselines, for sporadic SpO2 spot checks, and for detailed sleep staging. If you do like that continuous background reading, then a wrist wearable is still the tool.
Safety is another consideration. Fall Detection and on-wrist Incident Detection available on Mobile Feature not available in all regions Fall Detection and on-wrist Incident Detection are unique Watch features. IF YOU fall and the iPhone is on you, it can offer Crash Detection. And even though ear-based PPG is promising, it may be fit-sensitive; try swapping ear tips until you get a fitness that doesn’t jog every time you sweat. Battery life is also worth monitoring: High sampling plus active noise cancellation will of course leach battery more quickly on long workouts.
Who should still wear the Watch
Endurance athletes in pursuit of a structured training load, triathletes who want wrist-based splits while they race, and anyone who needs wrist notifications or cellular calls away from the phone will still want a Watch. If you value ECG readings, time-in-zone alerts sans the phone or all-day stress trends, the Watch’s sensors and on-wrist UX are still stronger.
But if your fitness life is largely gym time, running years and years of run history with your phone, a yen to close some rings without another screen buzzing at you … That’s where AirPods Pro 3 hit that sweet spot — more physiology than you actively cared about before, but also more of the audio features you were already lusting after.
A different kind of stratechery for Apple’s wearables
Apple has been planting the seed for this direction for years. AirPods Pro 2 brought a new hearing feature that pushed the line of convenience versus health. Folding heart sensing into AirPods Pro 3 would extend that arc — prioritizing wellness and coaching over spec-sheet codec battles. It also matches market dynamics: Counterpoint Research consistently has Apple on or near the top of global true wireless shipments while IDC says Apple Watch leads the premium segment of the smartwatch market by revenue. Approaching earbuds as a health platform leverages the bigger installed base.
There’s a user-experience play, too. Health data recorded in one place, coached in your ear and then presented on the iPhone helps with the fragmentation that can occur in multi-device solutions. And for a portion of the user base — myself included — it eliminates the only remaining reason to wear a Watch at all.
The upshot: in-ear heart rate, and all of a sudden the AirPods Pro 3 are the simplest fitness tracker for anyone who values simplicity. If the readings remain steady in sweat and sprint, my Watch will go right back onto the charger — perhaps for good.