Apple Fitness+ Under Review: Health+ Merger, AI Coaching and Apple’s “Too Many Services” Problem

Apple’s subscription workout platform, Apple Fitness+, has quietly moved to the center of a much bigger debate inside the company: does Apple now have too many services, and is Fitness+ still strong enough to stand on its own?

Over the past week — and capped by fresh reporting today — multiple outlets building on Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter say Fitness+ is officially “under review” as Apple weighs a major reshuffle of its health and services strategy. ^[1]

Key Takeaways

Apple Fitness+ is under internal review after five years on the market, with high churn and limited revenue flagged as key issues. ^[2]
A new Apple Health+ subscription is in the works for 2026, and Fitness+ may be folded into it instead of continuing as a standalone service. ^[3]
Apple has shifted Fitness+ under new leadership: VP of Health Dr. Sumbul Desai now oversees the service and reports directly to Services chief Eddy Cue. ^[4]
Profitability is a growing concern — Fitness+ is described as one of Apple’s weakest digital offerings, with “high churn” and “little revenue upside,” even as it remains relatively cheap to operate. ^[5]
Apple is confronting a “too many services” problem, and Fitness+ has been pulled into that conversation as the company looks to simplify bundles and clarify its health story. ^[6]

Apple Fitness+ Is Officially “Under Review”

Apple Fitness+ launched in 2020 as a subscription library of trainer‑led workouts and meditation sessions delivered through the Fitness app on iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. In the U.S., it’s still priced at $9.99 per month or $79.99 per year, and it’s also included in the Apple One Premier bundle at $37.95 per month. ^[7]

According to recent reporting based on internal sources summarized by MacRumors, 9to5Mac, and others, Apple now classifies Fitness+ as one of its weakest services. The service has reportedly seen:

High customer churn (people trying it, then cancelling), and
Modest revenue relative to bigger services like iCloud, Apple Music, and Apple TV+. ^[8]

Despite that, insiders say Apple is not planning to simply kill Fitness+. The service is relatively inexpensive to run, has a small but loyal user base, and plays an important role in Apple’s broader “health and wellness” story — all reasons management sees outright cancellation as not worth the backlash. ^[9]

New Boss, New Pressure: A Reorg Around Health

One big change has already happened: Apple Fitness+ has a new home inside the company.

Reports this month say Dr. Sumbul Desai, Apple’s VP of Health, is now adding Fitness+ to her portfolio. She and the wider health division will report directly to SVP of Services Eddy Cue, a shift linked to the upcoming retirement of longtime COO Jeff Williams. ^[10]

The idea is simple:

Pull health products — Apple Watch health features, the Health app, emerging AI health tools, and Fitness+ — into one coherent organization.
Put that group under the services business, where recurring revenue and subscription growth are top priorities.

Bloomberg’s reporting, echoed by PYMNTS and others, notes that with this new reporting line, Fitness+ will be under “fresh pressure to improve results” rather than continuing as a nice‑to‑have side project. ^[11]

The Health+ Super-Bundle: Where Fitness+ Likely Goes Next

The most dramatic change on the table is the creation of a new Apple Health+ subscription in 2026.

MacRumors’ latest coverage of Gurman’s newsletter says Apple is planning a broader Health+ service that could absorb Fitness+ and debut next year, effectively ending Fitness+ as an independent subscription while keeping its workouts available under a new umbrella. ^[12]

From what’s been reported so far, Health+ is expected to include:

Full access to the existing Fitness+ workout and meditation catalog
An AI‑based health coach, offering personalized nutrition guidance and health suggestions
Deeper integration with Apple Watch and other sensors for more tailored programs ^[13]

A separate TechRadar analysis, based on the same rumors, warns that Apple risks repeating Garmin’s Connect+ backlash if it starts paywalling features that users currently expect to be bundled with device purchases. Garmin’s shift to a new paid tier angered many customers who felt they were paying twice for capabilities tied to expensive hardware. ^[14]

If Apple isn’t careful, a Health+ tier could trigger similar frustration among users who’ve grown used to getting new Health and Apple Watch features as part of OS updates or hardware upgrades.

Apple’s “Too Many Services” Problem

Today’s new piece from The Mac Observer reframes the whole discussion: inside Apple, Fitness+ is now seen not just as a struggling fitness product, but as part of a services bloat problem. ^[15]

According to that report, internal teams see a long list of overlapping subscriptions — Music, TV+, Arcade, News+, iCloud+, Fitness+, potential Health+ and more — that has become confusing for the average customer. Gurman is quoted as saying Apple has “way too many subscription services” and needs to simplify. ^[16]

Two main options appear to be under discussion:

Build‑your‑own Apple One bundles
- Let customers dynamically choose a mix of services inside an Apple One package (for example, Music + iCloud + Health+), which could keep Fitness+ around as a modular component instead of a standalone SKU. ^[17]
Kill the stand‑alone Fitness+ subscription
- Fold Fitness+ into Health+ and/or Apple One Premier and stop selling it on its own, simplifying Apple’s price list and marketing narrative even if the content lives on. ^[18]

Either way, the direction of travel is clear: fewer, clearer service brands with bigger perceived value, rather than a sprawling list of niche subscriptions.

Why Fitness+ Is Struggling: Profitability, Positioning and Features

Several reports over the last week paint a consistent picture of why Apple is rethinking Fitness+. ^[19]

1. High churn and low upside

Gurman’s reporting, echoed by PYMNTS and BGR, describes Fitness+ as having:

High churn – many users cancel after a trial or short period
“Little revenue upside” compared with Apple’s flagship services

It’s still cheap to run (content is produced in‑house, with predictable costs), but revenue isn’t growing fast enough to justify its own sprawling marketing and product footprint. ^[20]

2. Stagnant product perception

9to5Mac and PYMNTS both note that since launching in 2020, Fitness+ has:

Kept the same $9.99/month price
Added only a handful of major features, like Strava integration and the ability to use it without an Apple Watch, even as workouts themselves continue to refresh weekly. ^[21]

BGR goes further, arguing that Fitness+ sits in a second‑tier group of Apple services — alongside Apple News+ and Apple Arcade — that exist but don’t get the same marketing or product focus as Music, TV+ or iCloud. ^[22]

3. Limited localization and inclusivity

Reviewers and commentators have pointed out that Fitness+ still leans heavily on English‑language instruction, with subtitles available but no widespread dubbing. That makes the service harder to use for non‑English speakers who can’t easily follow fast‑paced verbal cues during a workout. Some code findings hint at dubbed versions in development, which could help broaden its appeal. ^[23]

4. Services headwinds and hardware context

PYMNTS highlights a broader business backdrop: in Apple’s most recent reported quarter, wearables, home and accessories revenue fell by around 9% to $7.4 billion, while services revenue climbed 13% to $27.4 billion. ^[24]

That combination — slower Watch hardware growth plus a service that isn’t pulling its weight — makes Fitness+ an obvious candidate for restructuring rather than a core engine of services expansion.

What a Health+ Era Could Look Like for Users

If (or when) Apple moves ahead with Health+, here’s how things could plausibly play out based on today’s reporting:

Scenario 1: Fitness+ lives inside Health+ and Apple One

Fitness+ brand deemphasized, but existing workouts remain available as part of Health+.
Health+ adds AI‑driven coaching (nutrition suggestions, program planning, maybe early‑warning health nudges) built on Apple Watch and iPhone data. ^[25]
Apple One Premier continues to include everything, but over time Apple could introduce mix‑and‑match Apple One bundles that let customers choose Health+ instead of, say, Arcade. ^[26]

From a user’s perspective, this would feel less like a cancellation and more like a rebranding plus feature expansion — though the price of entry might go up if advanced features live behind a higher Health+ tier.

Scenario 2: Fitness+ refocused but still standalone

Bloomberg’s reporting, as summarized by MacRumors, leaves room for another path: Apple could keep Fitness+ as a standalone service while still launching Health+. That would likely require:

More aggressive promotion, trials and bundling
A clearer roadmap of new features, especially personalization via Apple Intelligence, better progress tracking and more globalized content
Pricing tweaks, such as adding Fitness+ to Apple One Family or experimenting with cheaper plans in emerging markets ^[27]

This route would preserve the Fitness+ brand for loyal users while still giving Apple a new Health+ story to tell investors.

Scenario 3: Slow fade-out of the Fitness+ brand

The most drastic option — and the one commentators see as least likely in the short term — would be to retire the Fitness+ name entirely once Health+ is established. Apple would keep workouts inside the Health app but stop selling or promoting Fitness+ as a separate product.

Analysts warn that this could spark negative headlines and user backlash, especially given how central Apple has claimed health and fitness are to its mission. That reputational cost is cited as one reason Apple hasn’t rushed to pull the plug, even with flat performance. ^[28]

What Changes Right Now for Subscribers?

As of today, nothing changes overnight for current Apple Fitness+ users:

The service still costs $9.99/month or $79.99/year where available. ^[29]
It remains part of Apple One Premier, and new Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV and certain audio products still include trial offers in many markets. ^[30]
New workouts continue to be added each week, with Apple having kicked off 2025 by promoting its “biggest lineup” yet, including strength programs, pickleball conditioning and a deeper meditation catalogue. ^[31]

The story here is about direction, not immediate shutdown. Apple is reshaping its health strategy around AI and subscription bundles, and Fitness+ is being asked to justify its place in that future.

Bigger Picture: Apple’s Health and AI Gambit

When you zoom out, the Fitness+ drama is really a snapshot of a larger transition:

Apple wants to grow subscription revenue even as hardware cycles become more predictable.
It’s betting on health and AI‑driven coaching as a major new pillar, with watchOS, iOS and Apple Intelligence features feeding into that ecosystem. ^[32]
At the same time, it must avoid subscription fatigue, especially as users push back against paying for features they once assumed were included with their devices. ^[33]

For now, Apple Fitness+ is the test case: can Apple take a niche, underperforming service, fold it into a broader health platform, and turn it into a clearer, more compelling subscription — without alienating the loyal audience that stuck with it from the start?

That’s the question Apple will be answering between now and the expected Health+ launch window in 2026.

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