Wareable speaks exclusively to VP of Fitness Technologies Jay Blahnik about a decade of Apple Watch.
Today marks 10 years since the Apple Watch launched and changed the smartwatch landscape forever. When it arrived on wrists in early 2015, the usefulness of smartwatches was widely questioned, and fitness was one of the first definitive answers.
Jay Blahnik, the VP of Fitness Technologies at Apple, has witnessed the evolution since those early beginnings. We’ve interviewed him countless times in the last decade-plus at Wareable and were treated to an on-the-record chat with him at Apple’s London HQ in Battersea in January 2025.
In it, we took the chance to look back at the legacy of 10 years of Apple Watch, and what lies ahead:
“If we look back at the 10 years, what I think we’re most proud of, and we’re thrilled to see, is that Apple Watch can meet you where you’re at,” Blahnik told Wareable.
“From Olympians to the everyday athlete to someone who’s just getting started, really find that it can motivate them in the way they want.”
First experiences with the Apple Watch
I remember working out with and reviewing the original Apple Watch when it was first launched. I was amazed by the immediate GPS lock-on; running out the door without waiting around was incredibly refreshing.
Yet, the battery life was poor, the tracking was simplistic, and I had constant accuracy issues (because the Apple Watch used to hand off GPS tracking to the phone). It didn’t feel like a big moment. However, looking back, it changed so much.
In a decade, the Apple Watch has become an incredible workout partner, and an ever-present at gyms, fitness classes, yoga studios, and start lines. In Strava’s end-of-year report, it was the most-used tracking device for uploading to the service.
The metrics and complexity have grown, and it’s no longer a sports watch for people who don’t play sports. The Series 4/watchOS 5 was a huge step forward with the addition of advanced metrics (cadence, vertical oscillation, etc.). Since then, we’ve seen continuous improvement in Apple Watch’s status as a proper fitness watch.
Examples include the bevy of running features, custom workout builders, the ability to race PBs virtually, and even allowing services such as Runna and TrainingPeaks to write training plans onto the watch.
Apple and Strava: The next big relationship
The company has recently announced a deeper collaboration with Strava so that Apple Fitness+ users can display their workouts properly on the ubiquitous fitness platform.
Jay Blahnik spoke about the company’s admiration for the platform and how the partnership could yield even closer collaboration in the future:
“Our focus has been accurate measurement as motivation. Our sharing was really about personal sharing, sharing with the people who are closest to you. We think one of Strava’s amazing strengths is its ability to build community and to have people connected to the community,” he said.
“We have many folks on our teams who are big fans of what Strava has done. And so I think this collaboration is kind of a mutual admiration, where we love what they’re doing, they love what we’re doing.”
And Blahnik teased further two-way collaboration between Apple Watch and Strava, with exciting opportunities for new motivational features and smoother integrations.
“I think we feel like this is just the beginning, and we’re excited to see what we can take it and we love what they do. They love what we do, which makes for a good roadmap for collaboration. So I think we’re excited about the future,” he said.
Inclusivity and meeting people ‘where they’re at’
So, how does Jay Blahnik sum up 10 years of Apple Watch?
The idea of fitness inclusivity and democratization is key to what Apple has tried to achieve, and it’s indisputable that the company has brought the concept of fitness wearables and GPS watches to people who would never have shopped for Polar, Garmin, or Suunto.
“It was always our goal to help people live a better day by being more active. But the fact that it’s reached such a broad swath of users and meeting people where they are at, has been really lovely to see.”
You can read more of this interview in PULSE by Wareable.
