Apple recently released a set of latest statistics about Apple Watch, trying to use long-term research results to explain why wearing Apple Watch is a "decision you won't regret" when pursuing fitness goals. The company analyzed years of exercise data from more than 100,000 participants and found that users who used Apple Watch were overall more consistently active around so-called “Quitter’s Day” and in the months after.
This set of data comes from the Apple Heart and Movement Study, in which participants agreed to wear Apple Watch for a long time and share activity data. The study was conducted by Apple in partnership with Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the American Heart Association. It attracted more than 250,000 participants across the United States from November 2019 to February 2025, of which more than 100,000 people’s data were used for this statistical analysis. In addition, Apple has also launched another health study based on iPhone, Apple Watch and AirPods with Brigham and Women's Hospital starting in February 2025, continuing its layout in the field of digital health.
A trend chart displayed by Apple shows that over multiple years, users’ average daily exercise minutes tend to drop significantly during the holidays in November and December. However, after entering January, the average daily exercise time of Apple Watch users not only rebounded significantly, but also showed an overall growth trend that continued into the spring. Apple specifically mentioned that the second Friday of January each year is often called "Give Up Day." Many people will give up their New Year's fitness resolutions around this day. However, the overall exercise level of Apple Watch users among the study participants did not decline significantly at this node, but continued to increase.
In terms of specific data, Apple said that about 60% of participants increased their average daily exercise time by at least 10% in January, an increase compared to their average level in December. About 80% of this group continued to maintain this increased activity level in the second half of January. Among these 80% of people, about 90% were able to continue to maintain a high level of exercise duration in February and March. This shows to a certain extent that by wearing Apple Watch for tracking and motivation, some users' New Year's fitness resolutions have become more sustainable.
In order to cooperate with data promotion and the New Year’s fitness craze, Apple has also increased the content of Apple Fitness+ services. The company has previously released a "Something Big" trailer, hinting at bigger moves for Fitness+ in 2026, and now it has officially announced the launch of four new multi-week fitness courses, namely "Make Your Fitness Comeback," "Build a Yoga Habit," "Back-to-Back Strength and HIIT" and "Strength Basics." These courses will be launched one after another starting from January 5, providing training content multiple times a week to help users plan exercise plans in a more structured way.
In terms of content expansion, Apple Fitness+ will also add new training content involving singer and songwriter KAROL G, trying to further enhance the appeal of the service through star effect and diversified courses. As for the Apple Watch incentive mechanism, if users can close all the “activity rings” for 7 consecutive days in January this year, they will receive the “Ring in the New Year” limited-time achievement medal. Apple also announced that it has renewed its partnership with sports platform Strava and launched a new challenge called "Quit Quitting": as long as they complete 12 any workouts before the end of January and record them on Strava, users can unlock an Apple Watch badge in the Strava app.
By releasing this set of long-term research data as well as a series of new content and incentive mechanisms, Apple is strengthening the binding relationship between Apple Watch and health and exercise scenarios, emphasizing that it is not only a device for recording data, but also a tool to help users overcome "giving up days" and stick to New Year's resolutions. At this critical time of the New Year, the combination of Apple Watch and Fitness+ is described by Apple as a digital fitness program that can "strengthen resolutions and consolidate habits" to gain a greater voice in the smart wear and health subscription service markets.