Gurman: Apple Fitness+ layoffs hit Time to Walk / Run audio team

According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple laid off a “handful” of Fitness+ employees last week — including audio-side staff who worked on Time to Walk and Time to Run, the Watch-first audio sessions you can play without a video workout.

This is reported, not an Apple confirmation. Exact headcount was not disclosed.

What changes — and what does not (per Gurman)

• New audio releases are expected to become less frequent.
• The audio programs are not described as discontinued.
• Gurman says he does not believe Fitness+ is facing cancellation right now.
• Inside the Fitness+ organization, the cuts are widely seen as the start of broader cost-cutting and other major changes in the months and years ahead.

Why Fitness+ is in the crosshairs

Fitness+ is overseen by services chief Eddy Cue and health leader Sumbul Desai. Gurman points to production costs, the constant need for new content, and subscriber churn as reasons the service is an easier place to trim spending — themes he has flagged while Apple reevaluates the workout subscription.

Health integration? Not decided

One possibility he floats is a closer Fitness+ / Health relationship — potentially folding Fitness+ into the revamped Health app now that both sit under the same leadership. He does not report that such a merge has been decided. Apple is already testing Health app video explainers in later software betas; that is adjacent context, not proof of a Fitness+ shutdown.

For how Watch workout tracking is evolving on the hardware side, see our Series 12 hands-on on health sensing and Quantified Scientist heart-rate accuracy check.