A new report claims that Apple is cutting jobs at Apple Fitness+, but without supporting evidence, concludes that this means enormous changes are coming.
As a devision, Apple Fitness+ has had some bad press about bullying, but if it's correct that there are now job cuts, they are not substantial. The new Bloomberg report suggests that Apple Fitness+ is in trouble and claims audio features such as Time to Walk and Time To Run are being scaled back.
But it then takes this to mean that Apple Fitness+ will at some point be subsumed into Apple Health. Yet even as it makes that conclusion, the report admits that the job cuts amount to handful of roles.
It does not mention that there are currently 73 Cupertino-based positions being advertised by Apple that mention fitness.
That's because this is another story of how any departure or redundancies is the end of Apple. In this case, the handful of job cuts has been extrapolated out to the potential end of Apple Fitness+ by way of a completely false assertion over the costs of the service.
Apple Fitness+ is a core services offering
The argument is specifically that Apple Fitness+ is an easy place for Apple to make cuts because users are demanding more content. There is also a claim about subscriber numbers changing, although that isn't backed up with any detail.
Getting rid of people when your userbase is calling for more content does not seem the most practical response. If the report were correct about the costs of the service, that might be an issue.
But unlike independent production companies that have to rent space as and when they need it, Apple owns its studios. Those studios are costing money whether or not anything is being filmed in them.
Apple Fitness+ has a very low cost overhead
It's the same with filming equipment, although there it's not known if Apple has bought or leased its cameras. Either way, it's a sunk cost and since Apple Fitness+ is entirely studio-bound, it presumably never needs to hire extra cameras.
So whether it's bought or is leasing them, Apple Fitness+ has the cameras, it has the studio, and even according to Bloomberg, the service requires constant new content.
That does leave staffing as the only part that could practically be reduced. Only, the staff are television producers, editors, and fitness people turned presenters.
These are not the most highly-paid positions and the cost benefit of making a handful redundant is laughable.
This isn't to say there aren't redundancies, and it is not to say that Apple Fitness+ might well benefit from some shakeup. But a handful of people leaving is not the end of Apple Fitness+, even if they aren't being replaced.
If Apple Fitness+ is to be absorbed into Apple Health, it will likely be some time before that occurs. While some services shifts can seemingly happen at any random point, Apple missed a great opportunity to go ahead and get it done with the Apple Health app redesign coming later in watchOS 27.
The service itself launched in December 2020, just in time for New Year's resolutions to fall into place. Apple isn't on some kind of set calendar here, but it does like saving its biggest changes for event announcements, and rearranging fitness and health seems to be a perfect fit for an Apple Watch release announcement.
It didn't happen in 2026, so perhaps these musings will come to pass in 2027. Regardless, Apple Fitness+ isn't going anywhere for now, even if Apple's plans shift a bit on the backend.
