Let’s be honest, in the grand buffet of Apple‘s digital services, Apple Fitness+ has always felt a bit like the side dish you’re not quite sure what to do with.

It’s polished, it’s optimistic, and the trainers are almost supernaturally cheerful. But according to the latest “Power On” newsletter from Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, the service is officially one of Apple’s “weakest digital offerings,” and its future is now “under review.“

This isn’t just idle tech gossip; it signals a major shake-up in how Apple is thinking about its entire health and wellness ambition.

The problem with Fitness+

Launched in the pandemic-fueled, at-home workout boom of 2020, Fitness+ was Apple’s answer to Peloton. It’s a slick, ad-free streaming service with guided workouts, perfectly integrated with the Apple Watch, all for $9.99 a month or as part of the top-tier Apple One Premier bundle.

The problem, Gurman reports, is that the service is bleeding subscribers. It reportedly suffers from high churn—meaning people sign up, try it, and then cancel—and, as a result, brings in very little revenue.

So, why not just shut it down?

This is where Apple finds itself in a classic bind. While the service isn’t a blockbuster hit, it does have a small, loyal fanbase. As anyone who uses the service can tell you, the integration is fantastic. Closing your rings with a workout you’re watching on your Apple TV while your stats are on-screen is a prime example of that “Apple magic.”

Killing the service outright would spark an immediate and loud backlash from those dedicated users. For a company of Apple’s size, Gurman notes that the service is cheap enough to run that the “negative headlines would not be worth the saving.“

In short: Fitness+ is too small to be a success, but too beloved by its niche to be killed.

The big shake-up: when health meets services

If you can’t kill it, you have to change it. And that’s exactly what Apple is doing.

According to Gurman’s report, the entire Fitness+ division is being reorganized. This isn’t just swapping one manager for another; it’s a fundamental shift in strategy.

Here are the new players:

1. New management: The service will now be controlled by Dr. Sumbul Desai, Apple’s vice president of health.
2. New reporting line: The entire health division, now including Fitness+, will report directly to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of services.

This is a much bigger deal than it sounds.

Previously, the health and fitness teams reported to Apple’s Chief Operating Officer. Now, it’s being placed squarely under the executive who runs Apple Music, Apple TV, iCloud, and the App Store.

Dr. Sumbul Desai is a fascinating choice to lead the charge. She’s a clinical associate professor from Stanford Medicine and has been the public-facing expert for Apple’s most serious health features—think the FDA-cleared ECG app, irregular rhythm notifications, and sleep apnea detection. She’s all about science, medical validation, and features that can actually save your life.

Placing the sunny, high-energy workout videos of Fitness+ under her command suggests a major philosophical shift.

What this reorganization really means

This move is likely the first step toward a complete reimagining of Apple’s health offerings. The new management structure creates “added pressure to improve results,” but it also hints at a new direction.

1. From Workouts to Holistic Health. This move signals an end to Fitness+ existing on its own island. Desai’s leadership strongly implies a future where Fitness+ is deeply integrated with the entire Apple Health platform.

Imagine this: The Health app notices your sleep quality is down. Instead of just giving you a data point, it now actively communicates with Fitness+, which then suggests a 10-minute “Mindful Cooldown for Sleep” before bed. Your watch detects high-stress levels, and Fitness+ pushes a “Guided Breathing” session. It stops being a library of videos and becomes a proactive, personalized health coach.

2. The “Health+” Super-Service. This reorganization also adds fuel to long-standing rumors of a new, more ambitious subscription service, potentially called “Health+.”

This rumored service would go far beyond workouts, using AI to provide personalized nutrition, sleep, and fitness plans. By putting both the serious medical-grade health team (Desai) and the subscription video team (Fitness+) under the same roof, Apple is assembling the exact pieces it would need to build such a service.

3. It’s About the Service Revenue. Ultimately, putting all of this under Eddy Cue means one thing: it’s time to make money.

Cue is Apple’s services guru. His job is to grow subscriptions. This move firmly plants Apple’s health ambitions in the “services” category, which is Apple’s biggest growth engine. The pressure will be on to make Fitness+ (or whatever it evolves into) a service that people can’t live without, just like they can’t live without their iCloud storage or Apple Music playlists.

For now, Apple Fitness+ isn’t going anywhere. But the service you know today is almost certainly on its way out. It’s on the operating table, and with Dr. Desai’s medical expertise and Eddy Cue’s business savvy, it’s about to be transformed into something much bigger.