Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL) has laid off a number of employees from its Fitness+ division as the company reconsiders the subscription service’s long-term direction.
The cuts, carried out last week, targeted workers on the audio side of Fitness+, a segment that includes popular offerings such as “Time to Walk” and “Time to Run” sessions.
Those sessions allow Apple Watch users to access guided audio content without needing to watch any video, making them a distinct and widely used part of the platform.
Apple is not shutting down those audio offerings entirely, but new releases are expected to become less frequent going forward, according to Bloomberg.
The recent layoffs are also being viewed internally as a possible starting point for broader cost reductions and structural changes to Fitness+ over the coming months and years.
Apple has been reassessing the Fitness+ service since earlier in the year, as the platform faces competitive pressure from rivals including Peloton.
One potential strategic direction involves deeper integration of Fitness+ into Apple’s revamped Health app, which is already being prepared for a significant redesign.
That redesign is reported to include video content explaining health topics and personal benchmarks, suggesting Apple may be repositioning its health and fitness offerings under a unified experience.
AAPL stock declined 0.4% in overnight trading ahead of Monday, though shares gained 1.2% over the prior week, a period that coincided with the launch of Apple’s new iPhone lineup.
That lineup includes the new iPhone Duo, which marks Apple’s entry into the foldable smartphone market and is being positioned as a meaningful new form factor rather than a short-term experiment.
Investors and analysts are watching early consumer reception to the Duo closely, assessing whether it can generate a fresh upgrade cycle for Apple’s most important product category.
The launch also comes as Apple continues to build out Apple Intelligence and broader AI-enabled features across its device ecosystem.
Retail sentiment on Stocktwits for AAPL dipped over the past week, sitting at “bearish” as of early Monday, with one trader writing, “$AAPL this junk acts inverse of QQQ.”
The same trader added, “I say junk because to justify the PE this thing needs AI and innovation. Meanwhile it just floats on its commie phones. I’ll stick to freedom phones, Android iOS.”
Despite the bearish near-term sentiment, AAPL stock remains up 23.3% year to date, reflecting sustained investor confidence in the company’s overall trajectory heading through 2026.
