Apple postpones March event over coronavirus outbreak

Apple has already asked its Silicon Valley based staff to work from home over coronavirus / COVID-19, but now the company has reportedly delayed an event over the outbreak.

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Cult of Mac is reporting that a source of theirs at Apple has said that the iPhone giant has postponed an event that would've introduced a new, cheaper iPhone (a successor to the iPhone SE) and iPad Pro with a triple-lens camera rig, has been postponed. The company became "concerned" about people gathering at Apple Park in late-March, so they postponed the event.

Not only that, but the Santa Clara County (which is where Apple Park is located in Cupertino) has banned all gatherings of over 1000 people. The ban will be running between March 11 and April 1, so even if Apple wanted to host the event -- they can't. As for the event itself being canceled, Apple will probably announce the products through a regular press release versus an event where people could get coronavirus -- or spread it.

Read More: Coronavirus / COVID-19

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New York Governor Cuomo has established a 1-mile containment zone in New Rochelle over the spread of coronavirus / COVID-19 in New York, while Google has recently asked all staff based in Canada or the United States to work from home if they can. Apple has just canceled an event where it was due to unveil a successor to the iPhone SE, and a new iPad, too.

Delivery start ups including Postmates have now got a "non-contact delivery option" for those who are worried about contracting coronavirus, too.

We've seen some gigantic events being canceled or postponed over coronavirus / COVID-19 fears, with Mobile World Congress, the Game Developers Conference, Google I/O, Facebook's F8 developer conference -- and even chatter from Dick Pound, a member of the International Olympic Committee, with the IOC talking about outright canceling the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Google has also ended all of its in-person job interviews for now over coronavirus fears, instead shifting to a digital-only Hangouts meeting for future employees. Twitter is also "strongly encouraging" its employees to work from home if possible, while Amazon has halted its near 800,000 strong workforce from all non-essential travel over coronavirus / COVID-19 fears.

But don't worry, gamers... as AMD has confirmed that the next-gen Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 launches are "on track" for later this year and that coronavirus hasn't forced a delay for these launches (yet).

You can read more on our coverage of coronavirus here.