Is Apple Fitness+ a match for Peloton?

It was not just end users who felt the benefit but, crucially, Apple itself, since the revenue from unlimited music downloads had the potential to greatly outstrip the profit from a one-off sale.

But that was 20 years ago, and with so many rivals now competing for the same business, the company might be said to have lost the edge of its glory days. Its latest innovation, however, is an attempt to recapture its old magic.

The new iteration of the Apple Watch is being positioned not just as a device to strap around your wrist but as a replacement for your monthly gym membership, with a consequent revenue stream that could outstrip the initial purchase price many times over.

This time, though, Apple is the imitator, not the originator. It has in its sights the fitness service Peloton, which combines an exercise bike with a programme of indoor fitness classes streamed to your home.

Apple’s version, Fitness+, will cost £10 a month or £80 a year, and lets you take part in yoga or treadmill sessions on your iPhone, iPad or on Apple TV, with your exercise data tracked automatically by your Apple Watch and shown to you on-screen. Apple Music, the successor to the original iTunes, provides accompaniment for each workout.

Unlike Peloton, Apple doesn’t supply the exercise bikes – at least not yet. The idea is that you bring your own or simply run on the spot, and allow the watch to monitor your progress. Apple says this makes the service portable – you can use it at home or in a hotel room. But in truth you can watch similar fitness sessions for free on YouTube and track your efforts on any fitness wristband. Fitbit, the market leader, already offers a Premium service for the same price.

Nevertheless, Apple is renewing its commitment to subscriptions with a vengeance, with a package deal that lets you access its music, video, TV and cloud storage services as well as the fitness studio for £30 a month. The thinking goes that if you can get all of these for a single monthly payment, you are less likely to want to sample the rival offerings from Google, Spotify, Amazon and many others. You are also deemed more likely to stick with Apple’s own hardware, because compatibility is guaranteed. And in fairness, no other smartphone maker has managed to find a way to make money from their devices after the initial sale. Even when the phones are sold on in second hand shops, the revenue keeps coming. Only Amazon comes close, with its range of loss-leading, cut-price tablets that are really just remote cash tills for the Amazon’s website.

Apple Fitness+ will go live in the next couple of months but the new watch, version six, is already in the shops. It is little changed from last year’s model, except for a health sensor which can measure blood oxygen levels in 15 seconds. Of perhaps more interest is its little brother, the new Apple Watch SE, which contains most of the core features but at £269 is at least £100 cheaper. However, the SE price rises to £400 if you want all the options, so the cheapest way to put a new Apple Watch on your wrist is to plump for the smaller version three model, which is still on sale from £200. Don’t think of it as a purchase price, though; look on it as a down payment.

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James Mitchinson