Imagine having a personal health coach, a sort of "AI Doctor" integrated directly into your iPhone's Health app. It's a bit of a crazy bet Apple is working on right now. Already heavily invested in the field of connected health with the Health app, which for the past ten years has helped track activity and health data via the iPhone or Apple Watch, the Californian giant clearly wants to move up a gear.
Under the name "Project Mulberry," Apple is working on a secret project that is already shaping up to be the company's biggest push in the health field. Journalist Mark Gurman of Bloomberg explains that the Cupertino company wants to transform its health app by integrating an intelligent assistant. It would take the form of a sort of "real doctor" for each user to help them move more, eat better, and feel good every day. At the heart of this initiative is artificial intelligence, specifically an AI agent designed to deeply analyze all the information collected by Apple devices, including the Apple Watch, iPhone, and possibly even AirPods or third-party devices. This includes data on heart rate, physical activity, and even sleep.
The idea is that the Health app will continue to collect all this data to allow the AI agent to better understand users. It will then be able to use this information to offer personalized advice, based on each user's unique profile.
AI, yes, but not without real doctors
The Apple brand doesn't aim to replace healthcare professionals. To enrich the experience, Apple is reportedly collaborating with medical experts such as cardiologists, nutritionists, and mental health specialists to develop video content. The videos would be integrated into the app and would inform users about certain pathologies, as well as advice for adopting a healthier lifestyle.
One of the major projects of Project Mulberry would be food tracking. The company led by Tim Cook aims to compete with services like MyFitnessPal by offering integrated and intelligent nutritional tracking. The AI would not only list meals but would also provide personalized nutritional advice to help the user achieve their goals: weight loss, muscle gain, a more balanced diet, etc.
What if the cameras of the iPhone or iPad got involved?
Eventually, Apple would integrate new features by leveraging the cameras of its devices, like those on the back of the iPhone. Thanks to the images collected by the camera, the AI would be able to analyze workouts and could provide advice to users to improve their technique, but also to prevent injuries. This feature would complement the current Fitness+ offering.
Also read: "Ugly" and "Embarrassing": Siri's delay plunges Apple into crisis
The major issue for Apple remains health
Health plays an important role for the famous company, and this is nothing new. While Steve Jobs was still alive, Apple was already pursuing its dream of adding a sensor to the Apple Watch for non-invasive blood sugar monitoring. While the American company is moving forward with the project, it will still take a few years to achieve this, and other obstacles are getting in its way. The Apple Watch recently found itself at the heart of a patent war, leading to the withdrawal of the SpO2 function in the United States. The hypertension feature, which has been expected for several years, is also taking a while to arrive on the watch.
While the development of these new hardware features takes time, this AI coach would represent a significant and more immediate software advancement for Apple. According to Bloomberg, this major overhaul of the Health app, with the AI assistant, could be launched with iOS 19.4 (version 18.4 has only just been released). The update would arrive sometime in 2026, in the spring or summer. Project Mulberry could be marketed under the name Health+.
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