Apple’s AI Health Coach: Your iPhone’s Future Fitness Partner
Apple is working on a big update to its health tracking tools behind closed doors. Called Project Mulberry, this AI health feature could change how we use health data on our devices. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, this update should arrive with iOS 19.4 in spring or summer 2026.
What makes this AI coach valuable? The new Health app will connect all the different health information your Apple devices collect and turn it into useful advice. Your iPhone could look at your sleep patterns, workouts, heart rate, and what you eat to give you personalized health suggestions.
For people who run marathons or take fitness seriously, this could be a major step forward. The system would gather information from your Apple devices and other medical tools to create custom health recommendations.
While we don’t know all the details yet, the AI might spot patterns in your health data that you’d miss on your own. Think about those small changes in your resting heart rate before you get sick, or subtle shifts in sleep quality that affect your performance. These insights could help you plan better training and recovery times, potentially preventing injuries before they happen and optimizing your peak performance windows.
Food tracking seems to be a big part of Apple’s health update, according to several reports. This is new territory for Apple, which hasn’t focused much on tracking meals before. By adding this feature, Apple will compete with apps like MyFitnessPal and Noom.
Connecting what you eat with your exercise data could really help serious athletes improve their performance. Imagine your iPhone suggesting specific nutrients you might be missing based on your recent workouts and recovery metrics. Your device might notice you’re not recovering as quickly after intense training and recommend dietary adjustments to address the issue. This kind of personalized nutrition advice linked directly to performance data could be game-changing.
The team working on Project Mulberry includes Apple’s top health experts. Dr. Sumbul Desai, who leads Apple’s health team, is in charge of the project, with Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams also heavily involved. Bloomberg reports that Apple is training the AI using information from doctors who work for the company, while also bringing in other medical specialists to create educational content.
Gurman also reports that Apple is setting up a facility near Oakland, California, where doctors will make videos for the platform. These videos will explain health conditions in simple terms and show users how to make healthy changes. There’s talk that Apple might bring in a well-known doctor to be the face of the service.
This health update fits with Apple’s bigger push into AI. For people who use the Health and Fitness apps regularly, these AI-powered insights could change how they approach exercise, recovery, and overall health.
The system might even use your iPhone camera to record your workouts and suggest ways to improve your form – possibly working with Apple’s Fitness+ service. Imagine doing squats in your living room while your iPhone analyzes your knee position and back alignment, offering real-time corrections to prevent injury and maximize effectiveness. This visual analysis could bring professional-level coaching to everyday users.
Will you have to pay for this new health system? We don’t know yet. Some Apple employees are calling it “Health+” internally, which suggests it might be a paid service like Fitness+ and other Apple subscriptions. But no official pricing has been announced.
In 2019, Tim Cook said that health features would be “Apple’s greatest contribution to mankind.” Project Mulberry shows they’re serious about that goal.
By using AI to make sense of health data, Apple isn’t just tracking your numbers—it’s helping you use them to get healthier. The difference is significant: instead of simply showing you that your heart rate was elevated yesterday, the system might explain why that happened and what you can do about it. Rather than just counting steps, it could suggest when and how to modify your walking routine for maximum cardiovascular benefit based on your personal health profile.
If you’re excited about these features, you’ll need to wait a while. The spring 2026 release date is more than a year away. Meanwhile, Apple is also working on other health tools, including blood sugar and blood pressure sensors for Apple Watch, though Gurman says these technologies are facing bigger challenges and might take longer to develop than the AI health coach.
This updated Health app could be Apple’s biggest move yet into healthcare. With AI analysis, personal recommendations, and expert videos, Project Mulberry might finally deliver truly personalized health coaching through your devices. For Apple users who care about their health and fitness, this is definitely something to watch as more information becomes available.
The potential impact extends beyond individual users. As Apple builds a massive, anonymized health database through this system, the insights gained could inform broader health research and trends. Of course, privacy remains paramount—Apple has consistently emphasized that health data stays on your device unless you explicitly choose to share it.
