Apple Scales Back AI Health Coach Plans

Apple Inc. is scaling back plans for an AI-based health coach, a retreat that underscores the difficulty of turning health tracking into a paid service. The shift matters for Apple’s wearables and services goals.

Bloomberg reported on Feb. 5 that Apple has wound down the initiative, code-named Mulberry, citing people familiar with the matter. Apple referred to the effort internally as Health+. Instead of launching the coach as a standalone offering, Apple plans to roll out some of the planned features inside the Health app over time. Apple declined to comment.

The move followed a leadership shift in Apple’s health organization, Bloomberg said. Services chief Eddy Cue took over the division after longtime executive Jeff Williams retired at the end of last year. Cue has told colleagues Apple needs to move faster, and he has pointed to rivals such as Oura and Whoop as offering more compelling features. Cue is also weighing changes to Apple Fitness+, the company’s $9.99-a-month guided workout subscription.

Bloomberg said Apple had delayed the coach more than once, first targeting iOS 26 and later pushing it to iOS 27, scheduled for September. The service was designed to generate health reports and provide AI-driven recommendations using surveys and assessments, paired with Apple Watch data and external lab reports. Apple built a content studio in Oakland, California, to produce videos for the Health app. Bloomberg said Apple will repurpose some of that video content and features such as suggestions based on existing Health app data, potentially as soon as this year. Another feature still in the works uses an iPhone camera to analyze how a person walks.

Competition is rising. Bloomberg said Samsung is gaining traction in health tracking, and OpenAI has launched “ChatGPT Health” to analyze data and provide feedback. Apple is also working on an AI chatbot for health questions and expects a future Siri chatbot to handle more advanced health queries, Bloomberg reported.

In a 2024 Apple press release, Apple health vice president Sumbul Desai said: “At Apple, we believe that technology can help you live a healthier life, and we’re excited to enable incredible new health capabilities.”

In PYMNTS’ recent Apple coverage, we reported on “Apple Brings Tap to Pay to 9 New European Countries,” and its recent earnings announcement which focused on AI and iPhones sales.