Apple continues its offensive in an effort to take on the likes of Peloton and other at-home fitness platforms including Google’s Fitbit.
Today the Cupertino-based company announced it has expanded workout types for its new subscription based Apple Fitness+ service.
Specifically the following has been added:
- New workouts geared towards pregnancy and older adults
- Yoga workouts
- HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) workouts
- Strength workouts for beginners
In addition, as Peloton does from time to time, Apple is on-boarding several new instructors. Several additions were made as part of the announcement that you can read here on its Newsroom site.
Those who enjoy walks while listening to podcasts and/or inspirational talks will be glad to know Apple has also added the one and only Jane Fonda to its “Time to Walk” series:
“The actor, producer, author, and activist talks about standing up to her fears and the power of taking action to fight climate change,” says Apple in the announcement.
Other notable public figures who have participated in the “Time to Walk” series (which also supports those in wheelchairs) include Wanda Sykes, Anthony Ramos, Dolly Parton, Shawn Mendes, Uzo Aduba, and Draymond Green.
Apple Fitness+ is available in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the UK, and the US.
Announced in 2020, Apple Fitness+ is priced competitively at $9.99/month (that’s less than a Peloton digital sub at $12.99/month) or $79.95 USD per year.
Apple Fitness+ vs. Peloton: The At-Home Fitness War Continues
Note that Apple does offer a generous Fitness+ trial that I recommend you try before committing to any other platform to see how you like it. As a Peloton Bike owner I still find the Peloton spin classes the cream of the crop. However, when it comes to all the other stuff — yoga, strength, cardio, walking, etc. — I do find the Apple offerings pretty slick and almost on par with the Peloton experience. Apple Watch integration is top notch too, with all manner of pretty metrics and motivational queues taking place during classes.
I expect Apple to keep investing heavily in Fitness+. Meantime Peloton too continues to ramp up its arsenal of online content — and that rower rumor persists.
Speaking of hardware it will be interesting to see if Apple introduces its own fitness gear, like a bike, rower or some sort of strength training device. My money is on yes. That, yes, it’s a matter of when, not if, Apple expands its footprint to a vertically integrated footprint just like Peloton with hardware, software and content providing a rock solid ecosystem. There wouldn’t be much surprise. After all, this is exactly what Apple already does in the case of the Mac and iPhone.
