Inside Apple HQ


Outside the main entrance at Apple Headquarters
inside apple hq
Outside the main entrance at Apple Headquarters

Insiders call it the Mothership. It’s Apple Headquarters in Cupertino, California, and to Apple fans, it’s a place thought of with romance and wonder. Only the privileged elect have ever been deep within its most secretive recesses, but after an extensive search, I turned up 30 70 156 pictures Inside Apple HQ that Apple probably doesn’t want you to see.


Jump to a specific section:

Atriums | Hallways | Offices & Cubicles | Meeting Rooms | Room/Door Signs | Break Room | Common Areas | Caffé Macs | Company Store | Executive Briefing Center | Town Hall | Labs | Recreation | Bandley Fitness Center | Parking Garage

It’s the Chocolate Factory for tech nerds. The one super-secret place we all want to see — and the one place precious few of us ever will.

Search the web for “Apple HQ” or “Apple Headquarters” and most of the results you get will be pictures of Apple’s Cupertino headquarters — from the outside. Usually with some fanboy or fangirl standing next to the “1 Infinite Loop” sign. But what we really want to see is what’s inside the ultra-top-secret place where all our favorite gizmos are dreamed up.

This discussion will be moot a few years down the road when Apple opens its gigantic new wheel-shaped campus. But for now, this is the ultimate Nerdvana, and here Apple Gazette presents a comprehensive collection of the only photos you’re likely to ever see of it.

CHANGE LOG:

  • 11.19.12 – 86 new photos added, entire page overhauled and reorganized
  • 4.21.12 – 36 new photos added, including images from the Executive Briefing Center, employee work spaces, and much more.
  • 4.21.12 – Numerous descriptions clarified with added details, including building numbers.
  • 4.9.12 – Four new photos added, thanks to an Apple Gazette reader!
  • 4.9.12 – Two “Hallway” photos relocated to “Town Hall” section, as they were taken in lobby of Town Hall area.
  • 4.9.12 – One “Meeting Room” photo moved to the “Design Lab” section, per a reader suggestion.
  • 4.9.12 – Added name “Caffé Macs” to campus cafeteria description.

Atriums & Reception Desks

The primary executive building is located at 1 Infinite Loop. Employees call this building “IL1” for short. When you first walk inside, you’re greeted by this welcome/reception desk, situated inside the massive, open air atrium with its bright natural light and suspended walkways.

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Apple HQ Reception Desk

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A different view of the Reception Desk

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Huge walkways stretch across the atrium, connecting one side of the building with another.

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Apple HQ atrium walkways
Apple HQ atrium walkways

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Atrium HQ atrium walkways — upside down!

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The atrium is a huge central hub, similar to the one at Pixar’s headquarters, where employees frequently run into each other coming and going.

Apple HQ atrium

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Apple HQ atrium

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The atrium also plays home to a gigantic banner that’s changed frequently to tout Apple’s latest and greatest product.

Apple HQ atrium

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Apple HQ atrium

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A view of the atrium from the top floor.

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One day, someone let loose an inflatable, radio controlled Nemo inside the IL1 atrium.

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Past MacWorld attendees may remember a few years ago when Apple created a big wall that dynamically showed off the icons for iOS apps as they were being purchased, in real time. The next year, Apple took this concept to the next level with a very long table that was filled with iPads. Both of these giant displays were carted back to Apple Headquarters in Cupertino after MacWorld ended, so that company staff could check them out.

The MacWorld app wall on display in the Apple HQ atrium.

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This table full of iPads was dubbed the “Hyper Table.” Here, it’s on display at Apple HQ.

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The Hyper Table on display inside the Apple Headquarters atrium.

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Here’s another atrium or lobby, this one located at the front entrance to IL4.

IL4 Lobby

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Here’s the atrium/large interior space at another building that’s part of the Apple Campus. I can’t tell which one (maybe one of our readers can identify it?), but the architecture is different than the executive building. The original captions with these photos explain that Apple frequently brings in musicians to play mini concerts for employees during their lunch break.

Apple HQ lunchtime concert featuring the band Crowded House

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An unidentified musician plays for Apple employees during their lunch break

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Apple HQ lunch break concert featuring band The Silent Comedy

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Another lunchtime concert

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An iCloud banner erected (in the same space as the 3 previous pics) to promote the storage service’s arrival

Somewhere on campus is this little area that looks like a miniature museum. Or, at least it was. The following two pictures were both taken in 1999. Can anyone verify that these items are still around, or long gone? I include these pics here, because the window reflections make them look as though they’re found at an entrance.

Check out this cool miniature model of the Apple campus

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A small museum of old Apple computers

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Here’s one more reception desk somewhere on campus. No idea what building or department. Or it may be a presentation podium; that looks like a projection screen on the right edge of the pic.

A reception desk somewhere on campus

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Hallway Sights

Inside Apple HQ

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Looks like the same hallway as above, from the opposite direction

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Inside Apple Headquarters

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Inside Apple HQ

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Inside Apple HQ

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Wall art on display somewhere inside Apple HQ. The famous “Here’s to the Crazy Ones” poem is printed on the right.

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A standee of the Beatles, from somewhere inside Apple Headquarters

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Not sure what part of the campus this is from. The pic was snapped in 2005, which explains the old-school iMacs.

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Another picture from ’05, from an unknown part of the campus. This bulletin board was used by employees to rate different kinds of chocolate. Y’know, just for fun.

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Special thanks to reader Rehan Mehta, who sent us these four further pictures from an inside hallway/entrance on the Apple campus. (These images are copyrighted to Rehan Mehta, and used by permission.) According to Rehan, “If I remember correctly, this was a hallway (from the 4 or 5 Infinite Loop entrance) that led straight to the courtyard in the middle.” You can see some nifty black & white pictures of Steve Jobs on these walls, along with a quote from him printed on a large canvas.

Inside Apple HQ

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Inside Apple HQ

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Inside Apple Headquarters

[Image source: Rehan Mehta]

Inside Apple HQ

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I have no idea what this is, but according to a Foursquare user, it’s located at IL1. Some kind of fan, or other machinery? Maybe in a utility access area?

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Offices & Cubicles

That stuff’s all well and good, but what about where the actual work gets done? If you’re hoping to get a glimpse inside Tim Cook’s office, you can dream on. It’s probably one of the most off-limits areas on the entire campus. But several employees have snapped photos of their offices and cubicles. First, offices:

Apple HQ employee office

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Apple Headquarters employee office

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An employee office from several years ago at Apple HQ

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Apple Headquarters employee office

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An employee moves up to a new office at Apple HQ

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An office or perhaps a receptionist’s desk? Hard to say.

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A panorama shot of an employee desk at Apple Headquarters

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Employee office at Apple HQ

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An office space inside Apple Headquarters

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Employee office at Apple HQ

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An office space inside Apple Headquarters

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Employee office inside Apple HQ

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Apple Headquarters office or cubicle

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And here’s a look at cubicles from various departments.

Cubicles inside Apple HQ

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An employee walks through a large area filled with cubicles at Apple Headquarters

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More cubicles at Apple HQ

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Apple Headquarters cubicle

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Apple HQ: an employee prank inside a cubicle

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Meeting Rooms

Each department at a mega-company the size of Apple needs a good Meeting Room in which to gather. As you’d expect, Apple Headquarters has a number of very cool, tech-heavy meeting rooms.

A snazzy, high-tech Meeting Room inside Apple HQ

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Another angle on the high-tech Meeting Room

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A large Meeting Room inside Apple HQ

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A large flatscreen highlights this glass-enclosed Meeting Room

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Apple Headquarters Meeting Room

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Apple HQ Meeting Room

Common Areas

Like the Atrium in IL1, there are many open areas sprinkled across the Apple campus, conducive to informal chats or brainstorming sessions between employees.

A conversation takes place in this small sitting area in one hallway at Apple HQ

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Long tables fill this common area that looks like it could be somewhere just off of the main atrium.

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Another view of the same room as above

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Another view of a common area at Apple HQ

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I can’t tell where the following photo was taken. Again, perhaps one of our readers can identify it. This is a picture that originated in Forbes magazine. Clearly it shows some sort of informal gathering place on campus, but I have no idea if it’s part of the cafeteria or another break room. You may recognize a few of the famous faces in this one.

(L-R, foreground) Jonathan Ive, Phil Schiller, Eddy Cue, and (now ex-executive) Scott Forstall, seated in an employee gathering place on campus. Forbes described these four Apple execs as members of Steve Jobs’ “inner circle.”

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Room/Door Signs

All over Apple’s Cupertino campus, a sense of humor is evident among the signs adorning walls and doors. I love these!

A sticker depicting a familiar sight is on this door

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Watch out for those robots

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Is this where future iPods are being dreamed up?

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The Ratings & Reviews department

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Room number plaques sometimes have pixelated icons on them, hinting at what goes on inside.

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Filing Room?

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If you need to make a pit stop, you could see restroom signs that look like these.

Men’s Room sign at Apple HQ

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Women’s Room sign at Apple Headquarters

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Here’s a better look at the restroom area where those signs originate.

Apple HQ restroom

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Inside the restrooms, you might see this cheeky reminder to wash your hands.

“Debug yourself” sign in an employee restroom at Apple HQ

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Don’t know where this recycle bin is situated, but I would imagine there are identical ones all over the campus.

Apple Recycles

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Kinda cool that there’s a USPS office on the Apple campus.

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Break Room

Apple is a demanding environment to work in, where everyone is expected to bring their A-game. So it’s nice to see that employees have some cool places like this to go to take a break. There are refreshments available, and informal events like the anniversary plaque presentation seen below are held here. Perhaps as a precursor to the forthcoming round-shaped “spaceship” headquarters, this Break Room is also round.

An employee is given an informal celebration of his anniversary with the company in a Break Room.

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A large Christmas Tree decorates this Break Room during the holidays.

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Caffé Macs

Hungry? Head over to the huge campus cafeteria, “Caffé Macs.” The food’s not free — not even for employees — but it’s inexpensive, healthy, and offers a huge selection, including lots of daily specials. Those who’ve eaten there rave over the delicious, high-quality food.

Caffé Macs dining room

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Caffé Macs dining room

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Caffé Macs dining room

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The buffet/serving line at Caffé Macs

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Caffé Macs

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Caffé Macs

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Caffé Macs, the campus cafeteria at Apple HQ

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A glimpse at the Caffé Macs kitchen

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Caffé Macs dish return (Is that an iPhone 5 Panorama photo?)

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To give you an idea of the cuisine offered at Caffé Macs, here are some images captured showing signs that label and describe the specials offered. (Note that even these internal-use-only printer pages are made using Apple’s publication style guides, including the company’s signature font.)

Pasta Special

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Mesquite Grill

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Grill special

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Seafood Friday

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“Curry in a hurry”

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Tempura Station

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Superfoods

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There’s even an ice cream bar!

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Apple Company Store

The one and only place inside Apple Headquarters that’s open to the public is the Company Store. It’s the only place where you won’t get accosted by security for taking pictures, and the only place in the world where you can buy Apple logo merchandise, like shirts and hats (though they also sell iPods and other Apple products).

Apple Company Store

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Apple Company Store

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Apple Company Store

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This campus phone — for use on-site only — looks as if it’s located right outside the Apple Company Store. Probably comes in handy when your close personal friend who’s an Apple executive invites you on a personal tour but security won’t let you inside.

Campus phone at Apple HQ

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Executive Briefing Center

Part of the 5 Infinite Loop building is dedicated to the Executive Briefing Center, which Apple uses to hold meetings with its business partners. Apple has also used it for other purposes, such as education conferences and the like. This is one area of the campus where non-employees are allowed — but it’s by invitation only. Note that most of these photos of the EBC are from about five years ago, so they may not reflect its current configuration.

Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: a Mac demo area in the stylish lobby. Note the photos on the walls.

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: opposite view of the lobby.

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: close-up of the famous “here’s to the crazy ones” quote, adorning one of the lobby walls.

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: photos of “the crazy ones” hanging from lobby walls

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: a wall of iMacs

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: a wall of flatscreens surrounded by servers

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: hallway

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: the Briefing Room

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Apple Headquarters Executive Briefing Center: the Briefing Room

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: digital classroom

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: digital classroom

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: digital classroom

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Apple Headquarters Executive Briefing Center: digital classroom

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Apple HQ Executive Briefing Center: digital classroom

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Town Hall

When Apple calls one of its trademark “keynote” press conferences, it usually takes place at a public facility in San Francisco. But occasionally, for a more intimate setting, Apple brings the press to it’s own theater, which it calls the Apple Town Hall. Located at 4 Infinite Loop, a number of events have been held here over the years, including the infamous “Antennagate” event.

Apple Town Hall

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Town Hall at Apple HQ

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Apple Town Hall – the view from the stage

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A closer look at the Town Hall stage

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The tech room behind Town Hall at Apple HQ

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Look at this: an iPhone has been built in to this panel — presumably atop the podium — to allow touchscreen control over the lights and presentation slides in Town Hall

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Outside Apple Town Hall

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Outside Apple Town Hall

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This podium is probably located the Town Hall, but I don’t know that for sure. But since there’s nowhere else to put it, I’m sticking it in here.

Podium inside Apple HQ

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Labs

The holy grail of Apple headquarters is the place where the real magic happens: the labs. These super-secret departments are responsible for the creative design and building of Apple’s sleek, sexy products. The labs include the Computer Labs, the Wireless Testing Lab, and Jony Ive’s Industrial Design Group Lab, among others.

An Apple employee posted the next two photos on Flickr, describing the area only as “the lab.” Obviously it’s some kind of computer lab, but it’s anybody’s guess as to exactly what happens there, or where on campus it’s located. It’s not a flashy place, but I’d bet it’s important.

Apple HQ computer lab

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Apple HQ computer lab (I know there’s not much of the room shown here, but it provides some context for its size)

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For the first time ever, Apple opened up some of its most private doors for the press to see after the “Antennagate” outcry following the release of the iPhone 4. Namely, they showed off the state-of-the-art Wireless Testing Lab where Apple puts its latest iPhone models through their paces, testing things like signal strength and user interference.

Apple’s Wireless Testing Lab

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Apple’s Wireless Testing Lab

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Apple’s Wireless Testing Lab

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There’s one place inside Apple HQ that most tech heads and Apple fanboys would crawl buck naked over broken glass to get inside of. Deep within the bowels of hardware manufacturing building IL6 — seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was underground — is the Industrial Design Group Lab. Given how jealously Apple guards its secrets, it’s surprising to get even a single glimpse of it — much less the treasure trove of images you’ll find below. Ladies, enjoy the Ive-y eye candy in this first one. Behind his biceps are some pretty hardcore industrial machinery.

Apple’s Industrial Design Facility

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A legacy “Apple Team” press photo, that looks like it was taken inside the Design Lab

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Those two images were part of this article when it was originally published. But more recently, I hit the motherlode. An official recruitment video made by Apple was leaked onto the Web, and within it were several terrific looks at the inside of the Design Lab. I took screengrabs of every location, and present them below.

Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab

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Apple Headquarters Industrial Design Lab

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab (I’d love to know what kind of machine this is. Anybody know?)

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab (These look like “blanks” — metal slabs designers use to carve and construct the casings for gadgets like iPads.)

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Apple HQ Industrial Design Lab

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Recreation

When Apple employees need some downtime away from the deadlines and technogeekery, there are several recreation areas they can visit to clear their heads and get a little exercise and fresh air.

Apple HQ rec room

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Apple HQ rec room

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Apple HQ rec room

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Employees can play basketball or volleyball on the on-campus courts.

Apple HQ’s outdoor basketball court

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The grassy area between the primary campus buildings is called “the Quad.” Concerts are sometimes held here for employees, along with other events like the annual “Beer Bash.”

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An idyllic relaxation spot outside (or inside?) IL6

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Bandley Fitness Center

On another part of Apple’s campus is located a building called the Bandley Fitness Center. Providing full-service exercise equipment to Apple employees, it includes treadmills, weightlifting machines, and more.

Treadmills at the Bandley Fitness Center on the Apple campus

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Weightlifting equipment at the Bandley Fitness Center on the Apple campus

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Lockers at the Bandley Fitness Center on the Apple campus

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Just the ceiling of the Bandley Fitness Center… Anyway, moving on…

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Parking Garage

Last but not least, beneath the campus is a parking garage. Have fun guessing who drives these flashy cars parked there.

Underground Parking Garage at Apple HQ

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Underground Parking Garage at Apple HQ

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Underground Parking Garage at Apple HQ

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Kokou Adzo

Kokou Adzo is a stalwart in the tech journalism community, has been chronicling the ever-evolving world of Apple products and innovations for over a decade. As a Senior Author at Apple Gazette, Kokou combines a deep passion for technology with an innate ability to translate complex tech jargon into relatable insights for everyday users.

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  1. The photos from “Apple HQ lunchtime concert featuring the band Crowded House” to the iCloud banner below it were taken in Valley Green 6, across the street from the Apple Fitness Center. I use to work in that building.