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Apple reportedly eliminated about 100 positions in its Services division in late August 2024, with the largest impact on teams working on Apple Books and the Apple Bookstore. Employees were informed on August 27, and Bloomberg reported the cuts on August 28, citing people familiar with the matter.
The reduction also affected employees working on Apple News, other Services teams and some engineering functions. It was described as an internal shift in priorities—not evidence that Apple Books or Apple News was being shut down.
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What Apple reportedly cut
The reported job eliminations occurred within Apple’s digital Services organization, led by Senior Vice President Eddy Cue. Bloomberg’s sources put the total at about 100 positions; Apple did not publicly disclose an exact number.
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The cuts were spread across several teams rather than representing the elimination of one entire product group. The primary impact was reportedly felt by Apple Books and Apple Bookstore employees. Apple News staff, workers on other Services teams and some engineers were also affected.
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Because the report relied on people familiar with the matter, details such as the exact team-by-team breakdown, locations, job levels and whether every affected employee immediately left Apple remain unknown. Reuters reported that Apple declined to comment.
Some contemporary reporting said affected workers were given 60 days to seek another position within Apple. That opportunity did not guarantee reassignment, and public reporting did not establish how many employees transferred successfully or the details of severance and benefits.
Why Apple made the cuts
The reported explanation was a shift in priorities within Cue’s Services organization. Sources said Apple Books had become a lower priority and was not considered a major part of Apple’s Services lineup compared with other businesses.
Artificial intelligence was part of Apple’s broader change in strategic emphasis during this period, but the available reporting does not prove that the eliminated jobs were directly replaced by AI positions. It is more accurate to describe AI as context for Apple’s changing priorities, not as the confirmed cause of every job elimination.
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The reduction may also reflect the different growth prospects and economics of the businesses grouped under Apple Services. Reallocating employees toward higher-priority or faster-growing areas is a reasonable interpretation, but Apple did not publicly provide that explanation or identify specific savings targets.
Apple Books was not reported to be shutting down
There was no evidence in the reporting that Apple Books was being discontinued, removed from Apple devices or sold. The stronger conclusion is that Books was reportedly deprioritized while remaining an active product.
Sources cited in the coverage said Apple Books was still expected to receive new features. They did not disclose which features, how much funding remained allocated to Books or what its long-term staffing plan would be.
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Apple News was affected, but the cuts did not signal abandonment
Apple News employees were reportedly among those affected, but the same reporting said the reductions were not a sign that Apple News was becoming less important to Apple. That distinction matters: Apple News was not untouched, but its inclusion in the layoffs does not establish that Apple is retreating from the service or Apple News+.
There was no reported announcement that Apple News or Apple News+ would be discontinued. Nor did the reporting establish that the service was failing. The available evidence supports a broad, priority-driven reduction—not a product shutdown.
Why the cuts mattered despite record Services revenue
Apple’s Services business was growing when the layoffs were reported. In its fiscal third-quarter 2024 results, Apple said Services revenue reached a new all-time quarterly high as total company revenue reached $85.8 billion. Apple’s results are available in its fiscal Q3 2024 announcement.
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That apparent contradiction is important for investors and workers. “Services” is a broad reporting category that includes the App Store, Apple Music, Apple TV+, iCloud, AppleCare, Apple Pay and related financial services, advertising, Apple News, Apple Books, licensing and other businesses. Strong overall revenue does not mean every product receives equal investment.
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A company can expand a segment’s revenue while reducing headcount in a lower-priority product. However, revenue alone does not reveal the profitability, growth rate or staffing needs of each individual Services business. The layoffs therefore should not be treated as evidence that Apple Services as a whole was shrinking.
How large was the reduction relative to Apple?
Apple reported approximately 161,000 full-time-equivalent employees as of September 30, 2023. Against that company-wide reference point, 100 positions would equal roughly 0.06% of Apple’s workforce:
100 ÷ 161,000 × 100 ≈ 0.062%
This is only a company-wide comparison. Apple does not publicly disclose the size of its Services organization in the cited sources, so the figure cannot be used to calculate the percentage of Services employees affected. The impact could also have been more significant within the Books, Bookstore or News teams than the total suggests.
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Part of a broader pattern of selective cuts
The Services reduction was notable because Apple generally avoided the large-scale layoffs carried out by many technology companies after the pandemic hiring boom. It was not, however, unprecedented. Contemporary reporting also described workforce reductions connected to Apple’s self-driving car effort and a smartwatch microLED project.
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Those actions should not be combined into an unsupported annual layoff total. Different reports may count project closures and workforce actions differently. The defensible point is that Apple was making selective reductions in several areas during 2024 while continuing to invest in other priorities.
What remains unknown
- The precise number of positions eliminated.
- The number of affected employees in Apple Books, Apple Bookstore, Apple News and engineering.
- The geographic distribution and seniority of the roles.
- Severance, benefits, immigration and other employment terms.
- How many workers obtained internal roles during the reported 60-day period.
- Whether specific features or projects were canceled.
- The amount of any financial savings.
- Apple’s detailed roadmap and long-term staffing plans for Books and News.
The bottom line for readers and investors
The best-supported interpretation is that Apple conducted a selective reprioritization within a growing Services division. About 100 jobs were reportedly eliminated, primarily affecting Apple Books and Apple Bookstore teams, with Apple News and other groups also affected.
That is materially different from saying Apple killed Apple Books, abandoned Apple News or moved all the roles into artificial intelligence. Apple Books and Apple News remained available, and the reporting did not announce a shutdown of either service.
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