Apple Stores and offices in the US will not reopen until May amid coronavirus pandemic

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Apple Store 5th Ave in NYC
Apple Store 5th Ave in NYC (Image credit: iMore)

What you need to know

  • Apple Stores the world over are closed.
  • Only stores in Great China remain open.
  • US stores are set to remain closed until May.

With the coronavirus pandemic showing little sign of being brought under control in the United States Apple has decided to keep its stores and offices closed. And they're going to remain that way until "early May" at least.

That's the line coming out of Apple's SVP of Retail + People Deirdre O'Brien in a memo sent to retail teams. 9to5Mac was able to get its hands on it, too.

According to that memo, we can expect stores and offices to remain out of action for the next few weeks at least, although it's possible that might be extended when the situation is re-assessed in the future.

I first want to share an update on Apple's COVID-19 response here in the US. At this time, we anticipate that flexible work arrangements will remain in place for all offices, and all Retail stores will remain closed, until early May. We are continuing to monitor local conditions for every Apple facility on a daily basis, and we will make our reopening decisions on the basis of thorough, thoughtful reviews and the latest guidance from local governments and public health experts.

Apple Stores in Greater China are currently the only ones that are open after the country started to bring coronavirus under control. So far, that simply isn't something other countries have been able to do. At this point, that's a situation that seems unlikely to change soon.

Oliver Haslam
Oliver Haslam
Contributor

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.