Apple Drops Mask Requirement for Corporate Workers at 'Most Locations'

Apple is dropping its mask requirements for corporate employees at "most locations," according to an internal memo obtained by The Verge.

apple park drone june 2018 2
Apple's COVID-19 Response Team on Monday told corporate employees that the company is updating current protocols "in light of current circumstances," and urged staff to continue wearing a face mask if they feel more comfortable doing so.

Apple also noted in the email that "everyone's personal circumstances are different" and reminded corporate employees to respect every individual's decision to wear a mask or not.

Apple has been shifting its operating policies throughout the pandemic to keep in line with local regulations and to mitigate risk for employees and customers in areas where COVID is spiking.

For example, Apple in March relaxed its mask requirements for its retail employees in the United States due to a decline in Covid-19 cases and a relaxation of local mandates.

The latest move however comes amid a fresh wave of infections in California that were first identified in the Bay Area, due to the highly-contagious Omicron BA.5 subvariant.


Apple is still operating a hybrid home/office work policy for corporate employees in the United States. Staff began returning to their offices on April 11 for one day a week, ending a two-year work from home policy that Apple implemented during the pandemic.

Apple originally planned to have staff in the office for three days of the week by May 23, but the company reversed the decision after a surge in infections, and a two-day requirement was imposed on May 4.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26 Feature

iOS 26.1 to iOS 26.4 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 1:26 pm PDT by
iOS 26 was released last month, but the software train never stops, and iOS 26.1 beta testing is already underway. So far, iOS 26.1 makes both Apple Intelligence and Live Translation on compatible AirPods available in additional languages, and it includes some other minor changes across Apple Music, Calendar, Photos, and Safari. More features and changes will follow in future versions,...
iPhone 17 vs Air and Pros Feature

New iPhones See 'Stronger Than Expected' Demand With One Exception

Thursday October 2, 2025 7:26 am PDT by
Nearly two weeks after the iPhone 17 series launched, analysts at investment banking firm Morgan Stanley said demand for the devices has been "modestly stronger than we originally expected," based on a combination of extended shipping estimates on Apple's online store and information it gathered from Apple's supply chain. There has been strong early demand for the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro,...
space black mbp

Here's Every New Apple Product That Leaked Yesterday

Wednesday October 1, 2025 8:27 am PDT by
A handful of upcoming Apple products leaked yesterday, through a combination of YouTube videos out of Russia and U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) documents that were released, despite Apple's confidentiality requests. The leaked products include an iPad Pro with an M5 chip, as well as updated MacBook Pro and Apple Vision Pro models. All of these devices had already been rumored...
apple wallet drivers license feature iPhone 15 pro teal 1

Apple's iPhone Driver's License Feature Now Available in 11 U.S. States

Tuesday September 30, 2025 6:40 am PDT by
In select U.S. states, residents can add their driver's license or state ID to the Wallet app on the iPhone and Apple Watch, providing a convenient and contactless way to display proof of identity or age at select airports and businesses, and in select apps. Apple recently revealed that the feature would soon be available in North Dakota, and starting today, the feature has officially gone...
Tim Cook Rainbow

Apple Event in October? Here's What to Expect

Monday September 29, 2025 9:31 am PDT by
Apple's annual iPhone event is in the rearview mirror, but rumors suggest the company plans to release a handful of additional products before the year ends. Will there be another Apple event this October? We discuss the possibility below. Apple in October Apple's most recent October events were in 2021 and 2023. In 2022 and 2024, Apple did not host an October event. Instead, it...
fcc vision pro leak

FCC Accidentally Leaks Apple's Next Vision Pro

Tuesday September 30, 2025 3:48 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has seemingly confirmed Apple's work on an updated version of the Vision Pro headset. One of several documents the FCC shared today references an Apple-designed "Head Mounted Device" with a model number of A3416. An included image confirms the device is a Vision Pro. The FCC's uploads are transmission tests, SAR test reports, and...
macbook pro prime day 2025

FCC Leaks Upcoming MacBook Pro and More

Tuesday September 30, 2025 1:58 pm PDT by
The United States Federal Communications Commission has confirmed Apple's work on a new version of the MacBook Pro and several other products, leaking details on the devices ahead of launch. The FCC published documents that reference model numbers that do not correspond with existing devices. A3434, for example, references an unreleased MacBook Pro, while other numbers are likely for...
Apple 2025 Thumb 1

Apple's 2025 Product Roadmap: What's Still Coming

Wednesday October 1, 2025 3:56 pm PDT by
Apple's two big yearly events, WWDC and the iPhone launch, are done and over with, but there are still some new products that we're expecting to see before the end of the year. Apple TV The Apple TV hasn't been updated since 2022, so it's due for a refresh. It doesn't look like Apple is going to change the design of its set-top box, but we can expect a faster chip Apple code suggests...
maxresdefault

New iPad Pro With M5 Chip Leaked in Unboxing Video

Tuesday September 30, 2025 8:39 am PDT by
An apparent unboxing video for an unannounced iPad Pro with the M5 chip was uploaded to YouTube today by Russian channel Wylsacom. The same YouTube account leaked the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip before it was announced by Apple last year, so this is likely a legitimate leak. Based on the box shown in the video, this appears to be a 13-inch iPad Pro with an M5 chip, 256GB of...
iOS 26 Everything New Feature

26 Hidden iOS 26 Tricks to Change How You Use Your iPhone

Wednesday October 1, 2025 9:16 am PDT by
Apple released iOS 26 in mid-September, bringing a range of new features and changes to iPhones across the globe. But not all of the included improvements have been showcased with Apple's typical fanfare, and many are likely to have been overlooked. Below, we've highlighted 26 lesser known additions and enhancements that could potentially change how you use your iPhone on a daily basis. Got...

Top Rated Comments

MaxBurn Avatar
42 months ago
My main takeaway was I can't believe they left it this long to drop masking.
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GuruZac Avatar
42 months ago

Good to get some feedback and advice from noted virologist / epidemiologist Mark Gurman...

Fixed that for you. This has nothing to do with free healthcare, it has everything to do with the UK government trying to convince everyone that covid is over when, even though cases are slowly declining, it very clearly isn't ('https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases?areaType=nation&areaName=England') (currently still 10-20k new cases/day in England).
Positive cases don’t and have never mattered. What has always mattered were hospitalizations, and at our hospital system and my brother’s in a different state, they aren’t seeing any hospitalizations due to COVID. People are incidentally testing positive. Most are mildly or completely asymptomatic.
Score: 25 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zahuh Avatar
42 months ago
Free healthcare in the UK means that we haven’t thought about Covid for a very long time. UK gave 21 free at home tests per month to each person 1.5 years before the US gave 2 for everyone. I think the last restrictions here was lifted over a year ago. Sad to see the richest state in history in the richest country in history is still dealing with this…all over a lie that free healthcare will completely backup the healthcare system. We in Europe are not as brilliant as you all in the states and have figured it out. Is it perfect? No, but what you’re going through is in deep need of change.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BrownyQ Avatar
42 months ago

“Don’t hesitate to continue wearing a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so. Also, please respect every individual’s decision to wear a mask or not.”
This is probably the best part of the message. Live and let live; be responsible for your own health and let the rest do the same.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
verpeiler Avatar
42 months ago

Right call on Apple’s part. It’s an endemic respiratory virus. As it continues to mutate in to new variants it gets further away from a highly morbid/mortal virus and one more and more similar to other coronaviruses. At the hospital system I work at, if you test positive and are asymptomatic, you can still work with an N95 on.
Covid is not just a respiratory virus. And there’s actually no hint that it would mutate into a more mild variant, why would it anyway? That’s all wishful thinking.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
cane811 Avatar
42 months ago

Free healthcare in the UK means that we haven’t thought about Covid for a very long time. UK gave 21 free at home tests per month to each person 1.5 years before the US gave 2 for everyone. I think the last restrictions here was lifted over a year ago. Sad to see the richest state in history in the richest country in history is still dealing with this…all over a lie that free healthcare will completely backup the healthcare system. We in Europe are not as brilliant as you all in the states and have figured it out. Is it perfect? No, but what you’re going through is in deep need of change.
Free lol
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)