After closing stores back near the beginning of March, Apple has announced that stores will begin to open in Australia (and Austria) later this week.
Tim Cook initially announced that stores in both Australia and Austria would begin opening in the next one to two weeks, before Gizmodo confirmed that stores would open as soon as this Thursday (May 7th) in Australia.
New store trading hours will be from 10am to 5pm in Australia and customers will tested for temperature on entry into stores. Similar social distancing measures to what we’ve seen in other retail stores will be in place.
Obviously, Apple stores being closed for such a long period has had an impact on Australians, who may have had iPhones or Macs break within this time.
The statement from Apple reads: “With many Australians working and learning from home, our initial focus will be providing service and support at the Genius Bar. To start, we will open with additional safety procedures including temperature checks, social distancing and an adjusted schedule, to ensure customers and employees continue to stay healthy. Our social distance protocol means a limited number of visitors in the store at one time so there may be a delay for walk-in customers. We recommend, where possible, customers buy online for delivery or in-store pick up.”