England Apple stores reopen as new tier system comes into force

Regent Street
Regent Street (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

  • Apple stores in England have reopened as the country moves into a new tier system of COVID-19 restrictions.
  • Stores in Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales remain open but are only accepting customers by appointment.

Apple has reopened stores in England Wednesday as the country moves into a new tier system of coronavirus restrictions, following four weeks of national lockdown.

Stores were closed throughout England on November 5 as part of a second national lockdown in the country designed to quash the coronavirus pandemic. Today, Wednesday, December 2, those stores have reopened.

All 32 stores in the country have reopened, and are open to customers for appointments, and seemingly walk-in shopping too. By contrast, stores in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are open but are only accepting customers on an appointment basis. From Apple's website:

We're currently open for click-and-collect including returns. We look forward to resuming full operations as soon as possible.

As noted by iMore reader Shaun on Twitter, customers in England can now upgrade their iPhone on the iPhone Upgrade Program by reserving a phone and booking a slot at their local Apple store.

Whilst most stores have remained open in some capacity for click and collect services, customers in the UK have to have an in-store appointment in order to take part in the iPhone Upgrade Program, which has been unavailable for the last four weeks as a result.

Not all England stores are back to full opening hours, and you can find out exactly when your store is open on Apple's UK retail store list. The move means that all UK Apple stores are now open in some capacity, with most operating special, shortened opening hours. Temperature checks and masks (provided by Apple) are mandatory for customers entering stores.

Stephen Warwick
News Editor

Stephen Warwick has written about Apple for five years at iMore and previously elsewhere. He covers all of iMore's latest breaking news regarding all of Apple's products and services, both hardware and software. Stephen has interviewed industry experts in a range of fields including finance, litigation, security, and more. He also specializes in curating and reviewing audio hardware and has experience beyond journalism in sound engineering, production, and design. Before becoming a writer Stephen studied Ancient History at University and also worked at Apple for more than two years. Stephen is also a host on the iMore show, a weekly podcast recorded live that discusses the latest in breaking Apple news, as well as featuring fun trivia about all things Apple. Follow him on Twitter @stephenwarwick9

Latest in Apple
iMore Logo
One more thing… Goodbye from iMore
Apple Logo behind a waterfall
Apple loses $14bn Irish tax case against the EU
Apple Glowtime iPhone 16 event
How to re-watch Apple's iPhone 16, Apple Watch Series 10, and AirPods 4 event
Glowtime 2024
Every Apple product discontinued after the iPhone 16 event
Apple Glowtime iPhone 16 event
Listen to all of the music from Apple's 'It's Glowtime' September event
Apple logo with US dollar bills
Apple could get a major fine the day after the iPhone 16 reveal event
Latest in News
iMore Logo
One more thing… Goodbye from iMore
Jony Ive
Jony Ive’s OpenAI hardware device could be his next world-changing design
NEBULA Cosmos 4K SE with Apple TV
This new 4K projector is tempting me to replace my LG C2 TV, just so I can watch Slow Horses on a 200-inch display
VisionOS 2 app reorganization
visionOS 2 is the first major software update for Apple Vision Pro, and now it's available
macOS Sequoia
macOS Sequoia (version 15) is now available for your Mac with some big upgrades
watchOS 11
watchOS 11 is now rolling out to all Apple Watch users with the Series 6 or newer