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Apple Fitness+ layoffs signal major changes

9to5Mac •
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Apple is assessing the future of Apple Fitness+ after reportedly laying off a “handful of employees” working on its audio features, according to a new Bloomberg report. The cuts affect guided Time to Walk and Time to Run audio sessions. New releases are not going away “completely,” but will “drop in frequency.”

Apple Fitness+ is not “on the chopping block,” at least for now. Still, given its costs, demand for new content and subscriber churn rates, the service is an easy place for Apple to cut expenses. Those within the Fitness+ organization widely see the layoffs as the beginning of more drastic cost-cutting measures and other major changes in the months and years ahead.

Last November, Mark Gurman reported that the future of Apple Fitness+ was “under review.” Leadership shifted to services boss Eddy Cue and health boss Sumbul Desai. Cue has reportedly pressed Apple to “move faster and be more competitive” in health and fitness. Gurman speculates that Apple will eventually integrate Fitness+ into the revamped Health app.