# The treadmill now reads your heart rate from your AirPods

Source: https://idevice.com/treadmill-reads-your-heart-rate-from-your-airpods
Published: 2026-08-07

> Tap your iPhone to the machine and AirPods Pro 3 supply the pulse. Without the earbuds in, the workout does not start at all.

Zac Hall [walked on a treadmill for 16 minutes](https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/06/ios-27-basically-turns-your-iphone-and-airpods-into-an-apple-watch-at-the-gym/) without an Apple Watch and logged the workout anyway. In iOS 27 he tapped his iPhone to the machine, picked Indoor Walk and started the workout from the treadmill. [AirPods Pro 3](https://idevice.com/earbuds/apple-airpods-pro/roadmap/airpods-pro-3) fed the machine his heart rate. GymKit, the system that lets Apple gear swap data with gym equipment, has always needed a watch on your wrist, and it works by handing over your pulse and taking back distance, incline, pace and calories. His walk came out at 0.66 miles, 65 active calories, 32 feet of elevation gain and an average heart rate of 115 beats a minute. The workout data stays on the iPhone and is wiped from the equipment.

Take the earbuds out and there is nothing left to read a pulse with, so the iPhone drops the workout the moment it starts. Keep the watch on your wrist and iOS points you back to it instead. On the first iOS 27 beta the Exercise ring sat still through the whole walk and caught up only once the watch went back on. The same beta [gives AirPods a custom equalizer](https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/06/airpods-pro-3-keep-getting-better-heres-whats-new-ios-27/) for setting the low, mid and high frequencies yourself, and lets an Apple Watch guide you to a lost AirPods Pro 3 case step by step. The Pro 3 were the first of Apple’s earbuds with a heart-rate sensor, after Apple tried the idea on the [Powerbeats Pro 2](https://idevice.com/earbuds/beats-powerbeats-pro-2/roadmap). GymKit launched in 2017 and needed a watch for nine years.

## Sources

- [9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/06/ios-27-basically-turns-your-iphone-and-airpods-into-an-apple-watch-at-the-gym/) (9to5Mac)
- [9to5Mac](https://9to5mac.com/2026/08/06/airpods-pro-3-keep-getting-better-heres-whats-new-ios-27/) (9to5Mac)