Apple plans biggest push into health: revamped Health app, AI doctor service coming soon

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Apple is thirsty for the health market, with some rumored upgrades coming from the company that would add an AI doctor into its Health app, using its wearables to monitor users' health and alert them to any issues, or help them with their general health along the way.

In a new report from Bloomberg insider Mark Gurman, Apple "has some moon-shot initiatives in the works that could indeed transform the health industry. That includes a 15-year-plus project to create a noninvasive glucose monitor. The idea, which originated while Steve Jobs was still alive, is to add a sensor to the Apple Watch that can inform users if they are prediabetic, helping them potentially avoid the full-blown condition".

This project remains "active" at Apple notes Gurman, and has reached "key milestones" but they're still "many years away" from delivering this new feature. Apple has hit some issues regarding health sensors, including for blood oxygen and hypertension. The blood oxygen monitoring feature was dropped from the Apple Watch over a patent fight, while the hypertension feature has had issues in development.

Apple is reportedly working on something called Project Mulberry, involving a complete revamp of the Health app plus a health coach, which would see the service powered by a new AI agent that would replicate -- at least to "some extent" notes Gurman -- a real, physical doctor.

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Gurman first wrote about Apple's new ventures into Health when it was codenamed Project Quartz, and since then the initiative has taken "many twists and turns and has roped in other parts of Apple, including its artificial intelligence group". Development on Project Mulberry is now full steam ahead, with Gurman writing that we can expect a release as early as iOS 19.4, which is scheduled for the spring or summer of 2026.

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How will it work? The updated Health app will collect data from your devices -- be it the iPhone, Apple Watch, earbuds, or third-party products -- with the new AI coach using that information to offer tailor-made recommendations on how to improve your health. Apple is currently training an AI agent with data from physicians that it has on staff.

Apple is also looking to bring in outside doctors, with experts in sleep, nutrition, physical therapy, mental health, and cardiology, so that they can make videos on their respective fields. This content would then be served as explainers to users about particular conditions and provide them with recommendations on how to make lifestyle improvements.

For example, if Apple's updated Health app receives data about poor heart rate trends, then it would serve up a video about the risks of heart disease.

Gurman continues, adding that "Food tracking will be a particularly big part of the revamped app. That's an area that Apple has mostly avoided, so far, though the current Health app does let you enter data for things like carbohydrates and caffeine. Going big on food tracking would mean challenging services such as MyFitnessPal and, to some extent, weight-management apps like Noom. The doctor-like AI agent will help users with the nutrition features as well".

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He added: "Apple is also working on features that would tap into the cameras on its devices, such as the one on the back of an iPhone. The idea is to let the AI agent study users' workouts and give pointers for improving their technique. This could eventually play into other Apple services, including the existing Fitness+ platform".