According to a Bloomberg report cited by several publications, Apple laid off a handful of employees from the Fitness+ team last week. The affected staff included workers involved in the audio side of the service, including features such as Time to Walk and Time to Run.
The latest cuts follow a larger round of layoffs reported in August that affected more than 200 employees across teams linked to Siri, Vision Pro and software engineering.
Fitness+ audio team affected by latest cuts
The latest layoffs reportedly involved employees working on Fitness+’s audio content.
Time to Walk and Time to Run allow users to access guided audio workouts through Apple devices, including the Apple Watch, without having to watch a video. Apple continues to offer both features, and the company’s support documentation shows that users can listen to episodes directly on compatible Apple Watch models.
The Bloomberg report said new audio releases are expected to become less frequent following the reduction in staffing. However, there is no indication that Apple is discontinuing Time to Walk or Time to Run.
The latest cuts are being viewed as part of a broader reassessment of Fitness+, rather than an immediate shutdown of the service.
Apple previously cut more than 200 jobs
The Fitness+ layoffs come weeks after Apple carried out another round of job cuts across several parts of its organisation.
Reports in August said more than 200 employees were affected, including workers associated with Siri, Vision Pro and the Intelligent Systems Experience group within Apple’s software engineering organisation.
The earlier restructuring reportedly included around 100 positions connected to the Vision Pro organisation and roughly another 100 roles across Siri and software teams.
Apple said at the time that it was realigning teams as it worked to evolve its business and deliver new experiences for users. The company also indicated that new positions would be created even as a limited number of existing roles were affected.
The Fitness+ cuts are separate from that earlier round, making them the second reported workforce reduction at Apple in less than two months.
Fitness+ faces questions over future direction
Apple launched Fitness+ as a subscription-based workout service offering guided exercise sessions across activities including strength training, cycling, running, yoga and other workouts.
The service has also competed with digital fitness platforms such as Peloton and has been closely linked to the Apple Watch ecosystem.
The latest report has raised questions about whether Apple could reduce spending on Fitness+. Producing regular workout programmes and audio content requires ongoing investment, while subscriber retention is another consideration for subscription services.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has reported that Apple is reviewing the future of Fitness+, although the service is not currently believed to be facing an imminent shutdown. A small number of layoffs alone do not establish that a larger restructuring will definitely follow.
Fitness+ could eventually become part of Health
The latest developments have also renewed speculation that Apple could eventually bring Fitness+ more closely together with its Health platform.
Apple has been expanding the Health app’s capabilities, including features designed to provide users with health information, benchmarks and other insights. Reports have suggested that Fitness+ could eventually be integrated more deeply into this broader health offering.
However, any future merger or restructuring of Fitness+ and Health remains unconfirmed.
For now, Apple continues to operate Fitness+ as a separate subscription service, while Time to Walk and Time to Run remain available to users.
Apple joins broader tech industry cost cuts
The latest Apple layoffs come amid a broader period of workforce restructuring across the technology industry.
Companies have been cutting jobs while redirecting spending towards artificial intelligence, automation and other strategic areas. Uber announced plans in September to eliminate about 3,300 positions, representing around 10 per cent of its global workforce, as part of a restructuring aimed at reducing management layers and reallocating spending.
Against this backdrop, Apple’s latest Fitness+ cuts are relatively small, but they highlight the company’s efforts to reassess staffing and spending across individual products and services.
Whether the reduction in Fitness+ staffing leads to broader changes will depend on Apple’s future plans for its fitness and health businesses.