Apple just unveiled watchOS 9 during the company's keynote at WWDC 2022, and plenty of fitness features were announced as part of the reveal, including a new triathlon-focused multisport mode.
This new mode allows your Apple Watch to seamlessly switch between swimming, cycling, and running during your run or workout.
This new feature joins a host of other advanced fitness features, including a new power meter that detects how much effort you're putting in. This can be measured in many different sports, and you can set a goal to exceed your previous efforts, with the power level of each workout recorded automatically.
Other new stats include three new running metrics made possible by machine learning, which isolates torso movements from arm movement. These metrics are vertical oscillation, stride length, and ground contact time, which work together to provide a complete picture of your running, Apple explains.
In the future, you may be able to use this information to purchase the right pair of running shoes for you.
Analysis. The Apple Watch 8 could be installed in Garmin territory
The Apple Watch, in all of its iterations, has set the gold standard for everyday smartwatches. If you're on the go, checking emails and messages, and getting plenty of exercise during the week, it's hard to beat (provided you've already invested in saving energy). Manzana).
However, serious triathletes and trail runners have always opted for specialist GPS sports watches, and Garmin is by far the biggest name here.
The option of a dedicated triathlon multisport mode and more advanced metrics tailor-made for those who take their training seriously is intriguing. Your average park runner won't care about your vertical swing... but someone looking for their best sprint tri-run time certainly could.
The recent release of the Garmin Forerunner 955 Solar and 255 set the standard for multisport watches. If Apple Watch 8 arrives in September, it could be for both dedicated athletes and weekend warriors at the office. And if so, Garmin better be ready for the fight.