- Joined
- Dec 20, 2006
- Messages
- 27,042
- Reaction score
- 812
- Points
- 113
- Location
- Lake Mary, Florida
- Your Mac's Specs
- 14" MacBook Pro M1 Pro, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD
My family returned recently from a visit to California. We covered a lot of ground in a week, starting in LA and later making it up the Pacific Coast Highway and eventually San Francisco. Along the way, we stopped at the new Apple Park campus, checked out the Visitor's Center and then the original Apple HQ at One Infinite Loop. I had wanted to check out the Computer History Museum and the Googleplex as well, but our time was short and my son really loves all things Apple, so that was a must.
If you're considering a visit and are time-constrained, I would recommend stopping at Apple Park Visitor's Center over One Infinite Loop. Though there are stores at both locations with some unique merchandise (T-shirts, mugs, water bottles, etc), there is little to see at One Infinite Loop. The Visitor's Center at Apple Park has a multi-story building with an observation deck to view the 'spaceship', as well as a Cafe and a physical 3D model of the campus that works in tandem with iPads to give you a VR tour of the facility. The staff there are fantastic and definitely a cut above the average Apple Store in terms of friendliness and enthusiasm. There is no Genius Bar at either facility.
My only complaint about the Visitor's Center is that there is limited parking. The lot outside is rather small, so if you can't find a space, you may find yourself having to go underground into their parking garage.... but only the first level is for visitors, and it's very difficult to loop around to find a spot, just due to the design of the facility. Electric and Disabled parking are relatively abundant, but we found parking to be a challenge, especially since the facility wasn't all that busy. It may make sense to park elsewhere and take public transport or a ride sharing service in.
That said, I have some wonderful memories of my son being absolutely stunned to be walking in the foot steps of one of his idols, Steve Jobs and seeing some of the sights he's only glimpsed in YouTube videos. Definitely a must-do if you happen to visit the Bay Area!
Apologies for the ginormous images... I tried to resize them in several ways, but the forum software keeps blowing them up.
The original 'One Infinite Loop':
One of the many T-shirt designs available only at Apple Park:
Checking out the latest Apple laptops at Apple Park Visitor's Center:
Panoramic view of the 'Spaceship' building at Apple Park, from the observation deck of the visitor's center:
If you're considering a visit and are time-constrained, I would recommend stopping at Apple Park Visitor's Center over One Infinite Loop. Though there are stores at both locations with some unique merchandise (T-shirts, mugs, water bottles, etc), there is little to see at One Infinite Loop. The Visitor's Center at Apple Park has a multi-story building with an observation deck to view the 'spaceship', as well as a Cafe and a physical 3D model of the campus that works in tandem with iPads to give you a VR tour of the facility. The staff there are fantastic and definitely a cut above the average Apple Store in terms of friendliness and enthusiasm. There is no Genius Bar at either facility.
My only complaint about the Visitor's Center is that there is limited parking. The lot outside is rather small, so if you can't find a space, you may find yourself having to go underground into their parking garage.... but only the first level is for visitors, and it's very difficult to loop around to find a spot, just due to the design of the facility. Electric and Disabled parking are relatively abundant, but we found parking to be a challenge, especially since the facility wasn't all that busy. It may make sense to park elsewhere and take public transport or a ride sharing service in.
That said, I have some wonderful memories of my son being absolutely stunned to be walking in the foot steps of one of his idols, Steve Jobs and seeing some of the sights he's only glimpsed in YouTube videos. Definitely a must-do if you happen to visit the Bay Area!
Apologies for the ginormous images... I tried to resize them in several ways, but the forum software keeps blowing them up.
The original 'One Infinite Loop':
One of the many T-shirt designs available only at Apple Park:
Checking out the latest Apple laptops at Apple Park Visitor's Center:
Panoramic view of the 'Spaceship' building at Apple Park, from the observation deck of the visitor's center:
