Apple (AAPL.US) puts AI health coach plans on hold, shifting towards incremental feature updates amid strategic contraction

According to sources familiar with the matter, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) is scaling back its virtual health coach service plans as part of the company’s strategic reassessment of how to enter the rapidly growing health services market.

The project, codenamed “Mulberry,” has been halted in recent weeks. Apple currently plans to gradually integrate some features originally intended for this AI-driven service into its “Health” app as a standalone offering.

This decision follows a leadership change in Apple’s health division—longtime head Jeff Williams retired at the end of last year, and the department is now overseen by Senior Vice President of Services Eddy Cue.

Sources say Cue told colleagues that Apple needs to act faster and become more competitive in the health space. He pointed out that emerging competitors like Oura and Whoop offer more attractive and practical features, especially through their iPhone apps.

A senior Apple executive believes that the company’s previous plans for new health services did not meet these standards. He is also considering adjustments to Apple Fitness+, the company’s fitness service priced at $9.99 per month, which is a main competitor to Peloton Interactive.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment.

Apple faces increasing competition in the health tracking market, with fitness platforms like Samsung Electronics and Strava gaining more attention. OpenAI has also entered the field, recently launching ChatGPT Health, which can analyze health data, answer questions, and provide feedback.

Apple has invested years in developing this AI-driven service, internally called “Health+.” The initial goal was to launch alongside iOS 26 last year, but it was delayed to this spring, then postponed again to the planned September release of iOS 27. Now, the project has been completely redirected.

The original intent was to create a system capable of generating detailed health reports and providing AI-driven recommendations for improving health for the first time. This significant new service was planned to combine new research, health assessments, and data from Apple Watch and external lab reports.

To support this, Apple established a content studio in Oakland, California, to produce videos for the health app, aimed at explaining medical conditions, guiding users through training programs, and providing health education.

These videos and some features (such as recommendations based on existing health app data) will be re-integrated, with a launch expected later this year. Another feature still in development is using the iPhone camera to analyze and assess users’ gait.

This health coach service was a key project for Apple Health team leader and physician Sumbul Desai. Since Cue became her supervisor last year, she has also been responsible for Apple Fitness+.

In recent years, Apple has continuously added health features to its devices—such as sleep apnea detection and hypertension notifications—but these tools mainly serve as alerts rather than actively helping users manage their health. Additionally, the company has a long-term project to develop non-invasive blood glucose monitoring sensors.

As part of its broader health initiatives, Apple is developing an AI chatbot that allows users to consult on health-related questions. This technology is based on an internal system called “World Knowledge Answers,” aiming to compete with Google Gemini-driven search results and apps like Perplexity.

In the long term, Apple plans to deeply integrate the next-generation Siri chatbot, which will be launched later this year with iOS 27, to support more advanced health-related queries within the health app and its operating system.