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Apple Announces New Health Study Involving the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods

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A new comprehensive Apple Health Study is launching today in the Apple Research app. Apple says U.S. residents can participate in the study if they meet the minimum age requirements, and complete the informed consent process.

Apple-Health-Study.jpg

The new Apple Health Study aims to further understand how technology, including the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods, can "play a role in advancing and improving physical health, mental health, and overall wellbeing."

The research study will also "explore relationships between various areas of health, such as mental health's impact on heart rate, or how sleep can influence exercise."

This is Apple's most holistic research study yet. It will track how technology impacts many aspects of health and diseases, including activity, aging, cardiovascular health, circulatory health, cognition, hearing, menstrual health, mental health, metabolic health, mobility, neurologic health, respiratory health, sleep, and more.

The all-encompassing Apple Health Study builds upon the Apple Women's Health Study, Apple Hearing Study, and Apple Heart and Movement Study.

Apple is conducting the study in collaboration with Brigham and Women's Hospital, a leading research hospital and Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate.

Apple Research is available in the App Store for the iPhone and Apple Watch. The app was updated today with the Apple Health Study.

Article Link: Apple Announces New Health Study Involving the iPhone, Apple Watch, and AirPods
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/02/12/apple-health-study/
Last edited:
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My experience with these studies and surveys TMI. No guarantee the personal data will not get shared to the insurance industries etc. While they may have medical benefits, TMI collected and floating around the internet a high risk. A direct discussion with a doctor, fine. Sharing my watch and or App data, no.
 
npmacuser5 said:
My experience with these studies and surveys TMI. No guarantee the personal data will not get shared to the insurance industries etc. While they may have medical benefits, TMI collected and floating around the internet a high risk. A direct discussion with a doctor, fine. Sharing my watch and or App data, no.
Click to expand...
Apple Studies are kept anonymous. your profile becomes a number that's not related to you personally.
Already there's a lot more personal information about you floating around on the internet that you can imagine.
If this study was conducted by Facebook or Google, then I would be worried.
 
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Amazing Iceman said:
Apple Studies are kept anonymous. your profile becomes a number that's not related to you personally.
Already there's a lot more personal information about you floating around on the internet that you can imagine.
If this study was conducted by Facebook or Google, then I would be worried.
Click to expand...
While I understand the concept of the number. My concern, secret number that is mailed with a return address, the old school mail. Open app, send data, if for any reason they know the location of the app, easy to assume who sent it.
 
turbineseaplane said:
I'm a little skeptical they'd ever publish study results that said or implied...

"For your mental health, you really should get rid of your smartphone"

It's like expecting a tobacco industry study to pump out a result of "you should quit smoking"
Click to expand...
Apple would pull the funding, which is pretty normal in the industry. Then, the people running the study would be inundated with requests to fund it so they could finalize the report.
 
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turbineseaplane said:
I'm a little skeptical they'd ever publish study results that said or implied...

"For your mental health, you really should get rid of your smartphone"

It's like expecting a tobacco industry study to pump out a result of "you should quit smoking"
Click to expand...
Your skepticism is very reasonable and understandable.

But I think this case is different. If people reduce their daily phone usage by 25%, Apple still will sell the same number of phones. But if smokers cut their daily tobacco use by 25%, tobacco companies will sell 25% fewer cigarettes.

Also, Apple developed the screen time app (introduced in iOS 12, give or take?) to help people who want to reduce their phone usage. Apple spent money to develop that app, and it’s not clear that the app generates revenue for Apple. I don’t know of any initiatives the tobacco companies have taken to help folks who want to reduce their dependence on tobacco products, with the possible exception of court-ordered actions like warning labels and educational materials.
 
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roncron said:
Your skepticism is very reasonable and understandable.

But I think this case is different. If people reduce their daily phone usage by 25%, Apple still will sell the same number of phones. But if smokers cut their daily tobacco use by 25%, tobacco companies will sell 25% fewer cigarettes.

Also, Apple developed the screen time app (introduced in iOS 12, give or take?) to help people who want to reduce their phone usage. Apple spent money to develop that app, and it’s not clear that the app generates revenue for Apple. I don’t know of any initiatives the tobacco companies have taken to help folks who want to reduce their dependence on tobacco products, with the possible exception of court-ordered actions like warning labels and educational materials.
Click to expand...

Fair points

Focusing on Apple though, if they really cared about our "health" here, they'd make different sized and types of device options and various form factors to help us get something that does "just what we need" ... instead they've homogenized down to huge screens to make sure NOTHING is done to even come CLOSE to touching the Apple App Store revenue streams

For instance, there could still be much smaller phones that are designed around quicker and more brief interactions to get things done (much simpler Apps) and spend much less time on the device

Or they could go more "all in" on making a Watch that truly can operate as a fully standalone device to replace an iPhone for certain types of folks (I'd be in this category potentially)

Apple's Overton window of "what's possible" is, unfortunately, fully constrained by their lust for services revenue growth
 
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I still can't continue in previously enrolled studies after setting up new devices. The Research app iCloud backup restore has been broken for years and I've submitted feedback on the bug every week now.
 
"You didn't meet the eligibility requirements to enroll. You can try again in 24 hours."

Perhaps, they have enough old people. And I am going to be even older tomorrow!
 
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npmacuser5 said:
While I understand the concept of the number. My concern, secret number that is mailed with a return address, the old school mail. Open app, send data, if for any reason they know the location of the app, easy to assume who sent it.
Click to expand...
Not how it works
 
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