Apple Donating Over 20 Million Masks to Healthcare Professionals, Producing Face Shields With Suppliers

Apple CEO Tim Cook today shared a video message with an update on the company's response to the ongoing pandemic.

Cook said Apple has now sourced over 20 million masks that it is in the process of donating to healthcare professionals around the world. Apple is working with governments to ensure that the masks are donated to the places of greatest need.

n95 mask
Cook added that Apple's design, engineering, operations, and packaging teams are working with suppliers to design, produce, and ship face shields for medical workers. Apple plans to donate one million face shields by the end of this week, followed by an additional one million per week. Cook said the face shields take less than two minutes to assemble.

The adjustable face shields can be packed flat, allowing 100 to fit in each box. Shipments will initially go to medical facilities in the United States, but Apple plans to expand distribution globally at a later date.

apple face shield
Apple recently delivered its first batch of face shields to Kaiser medical facilities in the Santa Clara Valley and said feedback was very positive.

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...
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...
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...
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

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...

Top Rated Comments

pdaholic Avatar
62 months ago
My ER received a bunch of Apple’s clear face shields, and I wore one yesterday seeing patients. Worked great! Thanks Apple!
Score: 41 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PickUrPoison Avatar
62 months ago

Hope they help someone.
20 million masks and a million face shields per week. They’ll help tens or hundreds of thousands of healthcare workers.

Without effective response by those in charge, we’re left to rely on charity.

Thanks, Tim Apple.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lkrupp Avatar
62 months ago
Amazing place, MacRumors. Apple does a good thing and is immediately attacked, its motives questioned, its CEO excoriated and belittled.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cmaier Avatar
62 months ago

The question needs to be asked: What were they doing with 20 million masks in the first place?
If they didn't have them, but bought them all up to distribute to others, what's the point of that?
It's not like health care places can't afford masks — they can't find any.
And if they couldn't find any? How is it that Apple found/had 20 MILLION of them?

Something seems really weird about this whole thing. It doesn't sound right.
They have a supply chain throughout the world. They know where to find factories that can churn these things out. The governor of a random state probably doesn’t. The U.S. government presumably could have done the same thing.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mikethebigo Avatar
62 months ago

The question needs to be asked: What were they doing with 20 million masks in the first place?
If they didn't have them, but bought them all up to distribute to others, what's the point of that?
It's not like health care places can't afford masks — they can't find any.
And if they couldn't find any? How is it that Apple found/had 20 MILLION of them?

Something seems really weird about this whole thing. It doesn't sound right.
Did it seriously not occur to you that their factories probably regularly use face masks in their production lines?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamjackson Avatar
62 months ago
Thank you Apple.
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)