Apple intends to donate money in support of groups fighting the outbreak of the Coronavirus in China, Tim Cook said on Saturday.

1600px Coronaviruses 004 lores

Electron micrograph of coronavirus virions

In a morning tweet marking the Luna New Year, the Apple chief said the company will be "donating to groups on the ground helping support all of those affected."

A coronavirus is a family of viruses that include the common cold, but this particular virus has never been detected before. Medical doctors have subsequently named it 2019-nCov, for "novel coronavirus."

The new virus causes severe acute respiratory infection. Since its discovery in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province, it has killed at least 42 people and infected 1,372 across China.

On Saturday, Australia confirmed its first four cases in Melbourne, followed by three more in Sydney. Two cases of 2019-nCoV have been discovered in the United States. It has also spread to Europe, with three cases confirmed in France.

The cases largely involve people who had recently travelled from the affected region in China.

Apple often provides donations during natural disasters and catastrophes. The company recently made a donation pledge to support fire fighting efforts in Australia, where bushfires have been burning after one of the worst droughts in history and record-breaking heat waves.

Top Rated Comments

I7guy Avatar
61 months ago

I wonder if Cool would have done the same if such an out real happened in the US? Like I always say, he is a kiss ass to China
When it comes to getting people sick, isn't it better humankind band together than pretend no threat exists?
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
luvbug Avatar
61 months ago

If that virus makes its way over to the factory in China where most iPhones come out of and the government puts that factory into Quarantine then Apple is screwed. Apple from there would be an easy short with production/manufacturing coming to a stop.
Yes, of course, that is the most important issue here. /s Where is your head at??
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
V_Man Avatar
61 months ago

Including moving production out of China. But India and Vietnam are fine with it ?

No matter how much China kisses up to Cook, that trend will continue as assembly becomes increasingly more expensive in China.
Time will tell. But for now. Apple is extremely dependent on China. China could destroy Apple if they decided to stop all production.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
I7guy Avatar
61 months ago
This virus seems like the next bad news in infectious diseases. Anything to help to contain this virus is welcome.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PickUrPoison Avatar
61 months ago

Imagine if the virus can live in the apple bionic chips, then there would be millions of people contaminated by that in short amount of time. That’s scary.
Imagine if the Sun exploded. Or rather turns into a red giant 5 billion years from now, expanding past the orbit of Mars. Billions of people dead in less than 10 minutes—if we’re even still around by then.

Now that’s scary. And it’s actually going to happen, unlike your groundless fear.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dampfnudel Avatar
61 months ago

Yes, of course, that is the most important issue here. /s Where is your head at??
Of course human lives matter more than iPhones, but I think it’s safe to assume that there will be a meeting at Apple to address the negative ramifications of a forced factory closure in China if this outbreak escalates. It’s possible the meeting may have already occurred. So in that context, this may be the most important issue at Cupertino at the moment (not that they would actually say that for PR reasons).
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 18

Apple Releases iOS 18.0.1 With Touch Screen Bug Fix and More

Thursday October 3, 2024 2:22 pm PDT by
Apple today released iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1, the first updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.0.1 and iPadOS 18.0.1 come two weeks after the launch of iOS 18. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, the...
ipad mini 2021 youtube

New Report Reveals When to Expect the iPad Mini 7

Tuesday October 1, 2024 2:09 pm PDT by
Apple is working on a new iPad mini that will "potentially" be released "by the end of 2024," according to a report today from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Last month, Gurman reported that Apple had "new iPads in the works," including an upgraded version of the iPad mini. At the time, he said the device was "on deck for Apple's October event" alongside the first M4 Macs. The wording in his...
macOS Sequoia Night Feature

Apple Releases macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 With Bug Fixes

Thursday October 3, 2024 2:27 pm PDT by
Apple today released macOS Sequoia 15.0.1, the first update for the macOS Sequoia operating system. The 15.0.1 update comes a week after Apple first released macOS Sequoia 15. Mac users can download the ‌macOS Sequoia‌ update by using the Software Update section of System Settings. According to Apple's release notes, macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 fixes a bug that could cause the Messages app...
15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

15 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.1

Friday September 27, 2024 6:14 am PDT by
Apple is set to release iOS 18.1 in October, bringing the first set of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update marks a significant step forward in Apple's AI integration, offering a new Siri contextually-aware experience and a range of additional capabilities powered by on-device machine learning and large language models. There are a couple of handy new...
maxresdefault

Two Weeks With the iPhone 16 Pro Max

Friday October 4, 2024 12:04 pm PDT by
Now that it's been two weeks since the iPhone 16 models were released, we've been able to spend enough time with the new devices to share a more in-depth review on their performance, battery life, feature set, and more. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've been testing the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, but the gap between the Pro models and the standard iPhone 16...
macOS Sequoia Feature

Here Are All the New Features Coming to macOS Sequoia This Month

Thursday October 3, 2024 6:27 am PDT by
‌Apple in October will release macOS Sequoia‌ 15.1, bringing to Macs the first Apple Intelligence features such as Writing Tools, new Siri features, Smart Replies, and more. In addition, macOS 15.1 adds a handful of welcome tweaks and improvements to existing Mac capabilities. Here's what we can expect from the first major update to macOS Sequoia later this month. Note that Apple...
apple silicon mac lineup wwdc 2022 feature purple

MacBook Pro, iMac, and Redesigned Mac Mini With M4 Chips on Track to Launch 'This Year'

Tuesday October 1, 2024 1:57 pm PDT by
Apple plans to release new MacBook Pro, iMac, and Mac mini models with the M4 series of chips "this year," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman initially said these Macs would likely be announced during a virtual event this October, but he has been more vague about the timing lately, with wording such as "in the coming weeks" and now merely "this year." In any case, it is clear that...
tedlasso

'Ted Lasso' to Return to Apple TV+ as Season Four Allegedly 'Confirmed'

Thursday October 3, 2024 9:21 am PDT by
Ted Lasso will be returning for a fourth season, according to Sigmund Judge, a writer at MacStories and co-host of the Magic Rays of Light podcast. In a social media post today, Judge said he has confirmed that pre-production of the smash-hit Apple TV+ comedy series will begin in January in London, England. Apple has yet to confirm the fourth season, and there is no set release date yet....