Back in early March Apple announced that it would closing the majority of its physical stores worldwide. Roughly seven weeks later Australian Apple stores will be re-opening their doors around the country later this week.
On Monday Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple stores in Austria and Australia would be back in the next one to two weeks. As it turns out, it will be a little sooner than expected for Aussies.
Apple will be re-opening on Thursday May 7 with reduced opening hours and reduced safety measures put in place in an effort to minimise the spread of COVID-19.
In addition to in-store social distancing measures, customers will also have their temperatures taken before entering. Only a certain number of customers will be allowed in stores simultaneously and they will need to stay 2 metres apart.
The primary focus of the re-opening will be Genius Bar support for customers who can’t get help from home. Apple is still encouraging people to buy new devices online for delivery if possible. It would also recommend that if you do want to come into the store for a device to order online first and select in-store pick up. This will help minimise the amount of time people need to spend in-store.
The new trading hours will be between 10am and 5pm across the country. The only store that will not be re-opening is the Sydney CBD location as it is still in the middle of an upgrade.
“We’re excited to begin welcoming visitors back to our Australia stores later this week. We’ve missed our customers and look forward to offering our support,” said an Apple spokesperson in a statement.
Originally Apple stores across the world were supposed to re-open on March 28, but the rapid spread of COVID-19 prevented that from happening.
[referenced url=”https://gizmodo.com.au/2020/05/apple-iphone-se-review/” thumb=”https://gizmodo.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/iphone-SE-header-image-1-410×231.jpg” title=”Apple’s iPhone SE Australian Review: It’s Bloody Good” excerpt=”Last year, Google turned the mid-range phone market on its head by introducing the ludicrously-priced and well-specced Pixel 3a. A few other brands have followed suit since then, but none have been quite as exciting as the new iPhone SE. Now it truly seems like flagship inclusions at lower price points are here to stay – and it’s about damn time. The trend of $1,500 – $2,000 becoming the norm for new phones over the last few years has been bad for buyers. A new middle ground has been long overdue and we welcome it. But is the resurrected iPhone SE actually a good phone to buy in 2020?”]