A Look Inside Apple's 23,000 Square-Foot Fitness+ Studio

[Rojaaemon]

Fine. But what the heck are the instructors wearing? Isn’t there a line of Apple Fitness+ workout clothing yet?

And why is it that when I’m typing “apple fitness” my iOS AI offers a capitalized “Apple” but doesn’t offer a capitalized “fitness” and add a “+” for me?

 

[Rochy Bay]

I've been really bored with Fitness +, there is nothing new about it.

 

[Rochy Bay]

The fact that they are doing this in expensive California instead of out in Wyoming is a good indicator of the waste going on so execs and managers can have a beach house.

You'll be surprised about how little money they actually spend. Well known for labor abuse and lower salaries than other fortune 500 i can bet their most expensive bill is rent. This product is a copy of others on the App Store. Since they have access to this data, they go after whatever is more profitable.

 

[Rochy Bay]

Will be interesting to see if this becomes worthwhile for Apple. I don't know anyone that has tried it, or even heard of it. Time will tell. It is a nice studio. Wish that was my basement.

ie: Fitbit Coach has existed for many years. This is a copy of other products that was fancied up and called innovative. This company lost too much talent.

 

[diamond3]

If I were shooting a fitness series Southern California would be where I would go. Looks of good-looking fit people that can act and take direction, studio facilities, camera and lighting crews, technical production support, etc. Not so much of that in Wyoming.

One argument against this is iFit. Based out of Logan, Utah. They shoot all over the world for their global workouts, but their studio and live classes are filmed/produced in Utah. It's significantly cheaper than California. Definitely a different production vibe, but nothing less impressive. And almost all the talent comes from all over the country/world anyway. https://www.ifit.com/

 

[Ghost31]

It’s cool but I can’t help feel apple is wasting money here

If you don’t understand how serious the obesity epidemic is, I can see why you’d have this opinion

 

[Jony Ive and Co.]

I hate it that they always have a grin on their faces. So unnatural...

Especially Jay Blahnik. Always with that comical grinning face. I prefer other more traditional presenters/executives like Jeff Williams and above all Craig and Phil Schiller who are much better at presentations(/keynotes).

 

[jerryk]

One argument against this is iFit. Based out of Logan, Utah. They shoot all over the world for their global workouts, but their studio and live classes are filmed/produced in Utah. It's significantly cheaper than California. Definitely a different production vibe, but nothing less impressive. And almost all the talent comes from all over the country/world anyway. https://www.ifit.com/

I don't know how much longer they are going to be cheaper in Utah than California. The whole Silicon Slopes thing is pushing home prices what up there and along with that costs for a lot of other items. A quick search showed home prices rising 16%/year in Slope areas. This is faster than the increase in many areas of California. I work with a company in the SLC area and am every time I go there I am shocked to see how fast the home prices are rising.

The same is becoming true with Austin, TX. Prices are increasing at approximately 19%/year there. A home on Lake Austin just sold for $39M.

Any place where large tech and media enterprises exist becomes expensive quickly.

 

[jerryk]

here in Toronto City24/CityPulse had “The 20 Minute Workout” show. Good it and watch the YouTube cuts of it ... trust you’ll never see a fitness video on prime time in N. America like that ever again lol.

You guys have all sort of crazy stuff on TV, or at least used to. I was in GTA on a business trip years ago and flipped on the TV. There was some older lady (Sue?) on TV talking about the best sex positions and techniques. I had to double-check to make sure I was not on a pay channel.

 

[npmacuser5]

The fact that they are doing this in expensive California instead of out in Wyoming is a good indicator of the waste going on so execs and managers can have a beach house.

Maybe there is zero talent out in Wyoming on both sides of the camera.

 

[qoop]

Looks like a prison of some sort.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Yup, Apple took my $100 for the year, but I've yet to get into the groove because I can't really figure out where to start. Yes, they have beginning shows, but it's still lacking an overall "coaching" from one show to the next. I want a single coach to tell me which workouts to be following and in which order. I'm not knowledgeable enough to do that myself.

YOU are THE target market for Apple Fitness!

This should be brought to their staff ASAP and multiple times.

 

[trhoffmann]

I'm going to remember this quote in a year's time too see how much services grew exponentially to that time.

That presupposes Apple will be transparent when it comes to disclosing subscribers. They are not with ATV+ or any other of their services for that matter.

 

[DeepIn2U]

You guys have all sort of crazy stuff on TV, or at least used to. I was in GTA on a business trip years ago and flipped on the TV. There was some older lady (Sue?) on TV talking about the best sex positions and techniques. I had to double-check to make sure I was not on a pay channel.

Oooh if in the 80’s THAT sit was Dr Ruth Westimer. She’s one firstly wickedly funny and open minded old lady. Lol

missed a lot from her interviews.

 

[dmparry]

Fitness+ is a good start but still feels a bit scattershot. How many people have rowing machines anyway? A lot more of us have bands and balls. It would be nice for those who like to work out together to have joint logins and biometrics on screen. Maybe some day. Also, Apple could consider wooing the older demographic working on longevity who have the time and $$ to spend. Aside from trainer Molly, not much other representation there.

 

[rhyme2]

Yep. I wouldn't be surprised if the numbers clearly show that Apple has failed here as they enter yet another business they don't need to be in.

Les Mills and Beachbody do the on-demand fitness videos way better with many different programs for all fitness levels. Apple Fitness+ designers failed to recognize that the people most likely to enter into a program such as Apple Fitness+ are people who have been into fitness for a long time, but I have word from owners that there are no really advanced at-home programs on the level of say, Insanity. So as someone who is into fitness and has completed that program many times in the past, Apple Fitness+ is a non-starter for me.

I disagree. People who have been into fitness for a long time already have their established routines, gym memberships and/or Les Mills subscriptions. The target for Fitness+ is the much bigger crowd of people who have an Apple Watch, want to do something for their health, but don’t know much about fitness. That probably describes me quite well and I have been loving the HIIT and strength workouts, and seeing big improvements.
I do agree though that some structured plans would be a good idea, or else a simple prompt based on my activity to say, for instance “hey you’ve been doing HIIT for half an hour every day — that might be overdoing it. How about a yoga session today?”

 

[A MacBook lover]

I'm going to remember this quote in a year's time too see how much services grew exponentially to that time.

I would rather put that $10 toward an actual fitness facility. Not some half-ass do it at home fitness subscription app.

 

[A MacBook lover]

So what? Apple is a multi-trillion dollar company. They can spend their money any which way they want. Don't worry about something that's not really your business. Strange how people say Apple is greedy but when they spend their own money people are questioning it. 🙄

Sorry, do you happen to own apple or work there? You took my post personally.

 

[Will.O.Bie]

It’s cool but I can’t help feel apple is wasting money here

As opposed to putting all that money into developing a credit card sized phone and a more efficient battery that lasts for weeks on a single charge, like most people complain about on here.

 

[davemchine]

Yup, Apple took my $100 for the year, but I've yet to get into the groove because I can't really figure out where to start. Yes, they have beginning shows, but it's still lacking an overall "coaching" from one show to the next. I want a single coach to tell me which workouts to be following and in which order. I'm not knowledgeable enough to do that myself.

Agreed, I feel like I should be doing a series of workouts or perhaps I could favorite some and come back to them later for a repeat. It feels very chaotic right now.

 

[koolzero]

There is a YouTube channel called fitness blender, that is just a husband and wife team but for just a 2 person team their videos are exceptionally good. They don’t have any music playing so it’s more of a no frills kind of deal but it’s shot well and the workouts are fun. Doing the workouts and following a low carb diet helped me lose 70+lbs.

I actually bought an Apple TV to do fitness+ workouts because I wanted the Apple Watch integration but it just makes me wish they had hired the husband and wife team from fitness blender to do some of their workout videos.

 

[travelsheep]

I hate it that they always have a grin on their faces. So unnatural...

They get promised Apple stock shares, and in front of them is the stock market chart... hence the smile

 

[IllinoisCorn]

Maybe yes, maybe no. It's a business venture, like any other. The proof won't be in the short run, since Apple doesn't do things for the short run.

But let's look at it this way. For those who decide to buy an Apple Watch because of this feature, every one of those Watch sales is a decent chunk of change for Apple. Add to that the monthly subscription revenue... I'm sure Apple's number-crunchers were able to make a compelling argument to invest in the studio and staffing costs.

But yes, even with a compelling series of Keynote presentations and financial analyses, they can be wrong. But for a product and service that is sold to a worldwide clientele, even a relatively "small" population of users can be big enough to float this particular boat. Within the overall universe of Apple products and services, this doesn't seem likely to be a major contributor to the Annual Report, but as long as it does add something positive to the bottom line it's likely to survive.

"The proof won't be in the short run, since Apple doesn't do things for the short run."

Except for Ping. And the Puck Mouse. And the buttonless iPod Shuffle. And the G4 Cube. And the 2015-era MacBook. And the Butterfly Keyboard.

All short term failures.

Next short term failure: Apple News.

I think Fitness + and TV+ Survive. Music obviously survives, as does Apple Card.

I think Arcade probably survives a bit because I'm sure the games are priced generously...for Apple.

But I don't think Arcade is very compelling and after what, a year? There is still no killer game. Not one that's caught fire. It seems to me anyway the games are mostly just junk nobody else was interested in publishing because...it's junk.

 

[fitbird7]

The fact that they are doing this in expensive California instead of out in Wyoming is a good indicator of the waste going on so execs and managers can have a beach house.

Naaaa my friend... what do you have against me having a beach house. You're just jealous of my success. sorry not sorry? lol

 

[christarp]

The production values are top notch. But till they have proper structured workout schedules of programs for 30 days or 60 days, it will be hard to get on board. I am a big fan of beachbody workout programs. Even discounting the multi-level-marketing aspects of it, the workouts are solid.

Casey Liss is that you?