Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) shelved the grand plan of AI health coach and shifted towards incremental feature iteration under strategic contraction.

According to informed sources, Apple Inc. (AAPL.US) is cutting back on its plans for virtual health coaching services, as part of the company's strategy to rethink how to enter the growing health services market. The project, codenamed "Mulberry," has been put on hold in recent weeks. Apple Inc. currently plans to integrate some of the features originally planned for this AI-driven service into its "Health" app in phases for independent release. This decision comes in the wake of leadership changes in Apple Inc.'s health department - with long-time head Jeff Williams retiring at the end of last year, the department is now led by Senior Vice President of Services, Eddie Cue. Sources said that Cue has told colleagues that Apple Inc. needs to move faster and be more competitive in the health field. He pointed out that emerging competitors like Oura and Whoop offer more attractive and practical features, especially through their iPhone apps. The senior executive at Apple Inc. believes that the company's previous plans for new health services did not meet this standard. He is also considering adjustments to Apple Inc.'s fitness service, Apple Fitness+, which is priced at $9.99 per month and is a major competitor to the Peloton Interactive app. An Apple Inc. spokesperson declined to comment on this. Apple Inc. 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 Inc. has invested years in developing this AI-driven service, internally called "Health+." The company's initial goal was to launch it with the iOS 26 system last year, but it was postponed to this spring and then delayed again to iOS 27 planned for release in September. Now the project has been completely redirected. The service was intended to create a system that could generate detailed health reports and provide AI-driven recommendations to help users improve their health. This important new service was originally planned to combine new research, health assessments, and data from Apple Inc. watches and external lab reports. To do this, Apple Inc. set up 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 video contents and some features (such as suggestions based on existing health app data) will be reintegrated and launched as early as this year. Another feature still in development is analyzing user gait using the iPhone camera. This health coaching service was a key project for Apple Inc.'s health team leader, Dr. Sumbul Desai. Since Cue became her boss last year, she has also been responsible for the Apple Fitness+ business. In recent years, Apple Inc. has been continuously adding health features to its devices (such as sleep apnea detection and high blood pressure notifications), but these tools primarily serve as warnings rather than actively helping users manage their health. In addition, the company has a long-term project to develop a non-invasive blood glucose monitoring sensor. As part of its other health business strategies, Apple Inc. is developing an AI chatbot, Siasun Robot & Automation, that allows users to inquire about health-related issues. This technology is based on the internal system "World Knowledge Answers" and aims to compete with Alphabet Inc.'s Class C Gemini-driven search results and applications like Perplexity. In the long term, Apple Inc. plans to deeply integrate the new generation Siri chatbot, Siasun Robot & Automation, which is expected to launch later this year with iOS 27, to support more advanced health-related queries in health apps and their operating systems.