Apple on COVID-19 Coronavirus: Donations, Store Closings, WWDC and More

Apple has released a statement addressing their response to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic that has been affecting the entire world. The statement details many of the steps Apple has taken in response.

Apple Covid 1

  • Apple has committed $15 million in donations to the global response
  • Apple is matching employee donations two-to-one to support COVID-19 response efforts
  • All Apple retail stores outside of Greater China will close until March 27
  • Flexible work arrangements available to employees
  • Extensive, deep cleaning will continue at all sites
  • All hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operations
  • Expanded leave policies
  • Apple News has launched a new COVID-19 section
  • WWDC will be online this year

Apple's online store remains open, and for service and support, they point users to their online support site.

The statement, signed by Tim Cook, closes with the following:

There is no mistaking the challenge of this moment. The entire Apple family is indebted to the heroic first responders, doctors, nurses, researchers, public health experts and public servants globally who have given every ounce of their spirit to help the world meet this moment. We do not yet know with certainty when the greatest risk will be behind us.

And yet I have been inspired by the humanity and determination I have seen from all corners of our global community. As President Lincoln said in a time of great adversity: “The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.”

That’s always how Apple has chosen to meet big challenges. And it’s how we’ll rise to meet this one, too.

Tim

The COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic has affected the entire world economy including Apple. Many other companies, organizations, and governments have been closing down activities to promote social distancing, in an attempt to reduce the transmission of the virus.

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro. The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
mac pro creativity

Apple Launched the Controversial 'Trashcan' Mac Pro 11 Years Ago Today

Thursday December 19, 2024 7:00 pm PST by
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup. The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 2 Redux

Top 5 Apple Products to Look Forward to in 2025

Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more. We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year. Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital." In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag. Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...

Top Rated Comments

m4mario Avatar
62 months ago
Tim Cook will certainly be a good president.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
V_Man Avatar
62 months ago
I admit I thought this was a minor thing. Way overblown. I was wrong. This is the right thing to do.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
62 months ago

Was this going on with swine flu ans bird flu?
No, because those weren’t as contagious nor as lethal, and didn’t have the potential to infect 60% of the population and kill 3% of those affected if this sort of action was not taken.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mr. Heckles Avatar
62 months ago

Ok, you need to take a closer look at the data that the Johns Hopkins dashboard is showing you. Only 81,000 of China's 1.4billion people have tested positive for coronavirus. Of those 81,000 people, 5800 have died.
Thank a closer look, 5800 of those deaths are world wide, not just China.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
drsox Avatar
62 months ago
Tim for President.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kobalap Avatar
62 months ago

Was this going on with swine flu ans bird flu?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on April 24, 2009, declared that the containment of swine flu in the United States was “not very likely ('https://www.cdc.gov/media/transcripts/2009/t090424.htm').” Two days later, April 26, the Obama administration declared a public health emergency, before any American had been killed by the swine flu.


I admit I thought this was a minor thing. Way overblown. I was wrong. This is the right thing to do.
Hard to blame you. Some have been calling the coronavirus thing a hoax for weeks.

Even in this thread, people are still not appreciating the difference between coronavirus and the flu.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)