French news channel TF1 gained exclusive access to the secrets locked in Apple Park, the iPhone maker’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. The channel interviewed top Apple executives such as senior VP of worldwide marketing Greg Joswiak. In summary, it called Apple Park “one of the most secret places on the planet.”
The $5 billion Apple Park premises are out of bounds for most unless you’re an Apple employee. Before the pandemic hit, Apple’s live events at the campus were limited to the Steve Jobs Theater, and visitors were not allowed in the main building.
In the segment aired by TF1 (which can be watched here), the crew was reportedly accompanied constantly. Several scenes feature intentionally blurred views of offices and rooms where in-development products could be held. Even the faces of Apple staffers were blurred in the video to protect their identity. This suggests that locations were negotiated before filming commenced.
The TV crew interviewed Joswiak, who described the premises as former CEO Steve Jobs’ attempt to “create the office building of the future.” He said:
“When Steve Jobs designed Apple Park, he wanted to create the office building of the future. He wanted a place where people came out of the office, where they meet by chance, collaborate, and exchange ideas.”
The crew also interacted with the VP of Environment, Policy, and Social Initiatives, Lisa Jackson, about Apple’s recycling robot and the use of renewable energy via solar panels on the building’s roof. She said:
“This is what our customers expect… and for us, that means being more attentive to the materials we use, reusing some of them, and innovating to take this recycling into account when designing our products.”
Another interesting interaction was with Apple’s VP of health Dr. Sumbul Desai about the Apple Watch and the iPhone maker’s health-related endeavors. She said:
“Our goal is to provide data that is useful to users and also to their doctors. We don’t want to replace this doctor-patient relationship, but we want to improve it. What is very important is that users can choose element by element what data they authorize and Apple does not receive and see any of your data. They remain inside the device,” she added regarding the privacy of users’ health data.”
Our Take
The four-minute segment by TF1 was by no means a detailed tour of Apple Park, but the company appears to be opening up to the outside world gradually. Recently it even shared exclusive images of the design department’s workspaces at Cupertino. This could signify that Apple welcomes visitors to its offices instead of wrapping up interactions online.
