Major Heart Rate Tracking Upgrade Coming in watchOS 27

Apple is planning a major upgrade to the heart rate tracking capabilities of the Apple Watch with its upcoming watchOS 27 software update, according to a report by 9to5Mac.

However, users looking forward to the company’s highly anticipated artificial intelligence health coach will have to wait a little longer.

According to details from industry insiders, the watchOS 27 update will focus heavily on system stability, performance tweaks, and smaller refinements rather than a massive list of brand-new features. Despite this quieter approach to the software update, the changes coming to heart rate tracking are expected to be substantial.

While specific technical details remain under wraps, the upgrade aims to make data collection more consistent and granular. This improvement could help the Apple Watch better compete with dedicated fitness trackers like Whoop and Oura, which are popular for their frequent and precise background heart rate readings.

The improved heart rate data is intended to eventually feed into Apple’s upcoming AI health coach, a secret internal initiative codenamed Project Mulberry. First spoken about last year, Project Mulberry is designed to act as a highly personalised digital wellness assistant. The service aims to analyse a user’s health metrics, including sleep cycles, activity levels, and heart patterns, to offer tailored wellness advice and lifestyle recommendations.

The system is also expected to pull in data from user surveys and external laboratory reports to build a comprehensive wellness profile. Apple even built a dedicated content studio in Oakland, California, to produce educational health videos.

Initially, Apple planned to launch the AI coach alongside a redesigned Health app during the upcoming software cycle. However, internal shifts have reportedly pushed those plans back