Apple to Phase Out Health+ and Integrate Features into Health App: See What’s Changing!

Apple’s recently planned health coaching service, Apple Health+, was reportedly shelved following the departure of Jeff Williams this fall. According to Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple’s health team, under the leadership of Eddy Cue, scaled back their ambitions: “The initiative, code-named Mulberry, has been scrapped in recent weeks. […] Apple now plans to gradually introduce some of the features originally intended for this AI-based service into its Health app.”

Eddy Cue reportedly told his colleagues “that Apple needs to speed up its development and become more competitive in the health sector.” Due to rising competition, the head of Apple’s services believed that the planned paid service of Apple Health+ did not meet the requirements for such a subscription model. Apple is also considering significant changes for Apple Fitness+, as its audience numbers have been underwhelming. The company has already hinted at “something big” coming in 2026.

Apple Health+ heavily relied on artificial intelligence to create detailed health reports with recommendations to enhance users’ health and wellness. “As part of this project, Apple had set up a content studio in Oakland, California, to produce videos for the Health app. The programs were designed to explain medical conditions, guide users through their workout regimes, and provide wellness training.”

Mark Gurman notes that these video contents and some features will be repurposed and launched this year, presumably with iOS 27, which is expected to be unveiled at the WWDC in June and released in September. The Bloomberg reporter also mentions that another feature is still in development: using the iPhone’s camera to analyze and assess a person’s gait. Lastly, Apple plans to transform Siri into a chatbot with iOS 27, which would include the ability to ask the Apple assistant about health and wellness (an “emotional support” function might also arrive with iOS 26.4 in the spring).