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Apple Park Visitor Center — The checkable facts
Quick answer
The Apple Park Visitor Center at 10600 North Tantau Avenue in Cupertino is the only part of Apple Park open to the public. It holds a store, a cafe, an exhibition space closed for renovation since July 2026, and a roof terrace overlooking the ring. Entry is free. The ring itself, its 2 miles of paths and the 1,000-seat theater are restricted to employees and credentialed visitors.
| Claim | Source |
|---|---|
| Main building is four stories and about 2.8 million square feet, designed for 12,000 employees | City of Cupertino — Apple Campus 2 Project Description (April 2013) |
| World's largest naturally ventilated building, projected to need no heating or air conditioning for 9 months of the year | Apple Newsroom — Apple Park opens to employees in April |
| 17 megawatts of rooftop solar; campus runs on renewable energy | Apple Newsroom — Apple Park opens to employees in April |
| Site held 9,220 surface parking spaces, 42 acres of permeable landscape and 4,844 employees before redevelopment | City of Cupertino — Apple Campus 2 Project Description (April 2013) |
| Most of Pruneridge Avenue was vacated by the City of Cupertino; a transit route was rerouted | City of Cupertino — Apple Campus 2 Project Description (April 2013) |
| Facade radius 232 meters; restaurant doors weigh 180 metric tons each, 16 by 28 meters, 12 minutes to open | seele — Apple headquarters, movable glass facade |
| Exhibition Space closed July 2026 for an update, no reopening date | AppleInsider — Apple Park Visitor Center shuts its exhibition space for improvements |
| Visitor Center opened to the public in November 2017; carbon-fiber roof on stone-clad cores | designboom — Foster + Partners tops Apple Park Visitor Center with open-air roof terrace |
| Jobs presented on June 7, 2011, called it a spaceship, targeted a 2015 move-in | 9to5Mac — Steve Jobs presents the new Apple campus to Cupertino City Council |
| Cupertino City Council approved unanimously in October 2013 | MacRumors — Cupertino City Council gives unanimous approval for Apple's new campus |
Frequently asked
Can you go inside the Apple Park ring building?
No. The ring is a working office, and only employees and credentialed visitors pass the security plaza east of North Wolfe Road. Members of the public can enter the Visitor Center across the street on North Tantau Avenue, whose roof terrace is the closest legal view of the main building anyone gets.
Is the Apple Park Visitor Center free to enter?
Yes, and no reservation is needed for the building, the cafe or the roof terrace. It keeps retail hours: opening at 10am on weekdays and Saturdays, 11am on Sundays, closing at 7pm most days and 6pm on Sunday. Apple Vision Pro demonstrations are booked separately through Apple.
Is the augmented reality campus model still on display?
Not at the moment. Apple closed the Exhibition Space that housed the campus model in July 2026, describing it only as an update in progress, and has announced no reopening date. Everything else in the building operates normally. Anyone traveling specifically for the model should check Apple's store page first.
Who designed Apple Park?
Foster + Partners, the London practice led by Norman Foster. The same firm designed the Visitor Center, which opened in November 2017, and the two buildings share a material palette of stone, terrazzo and glass. Steve Jobs presented the scheme himself to Cupertino's city council in June 2011.
How long did Apple Park take to build?
Jobs told Cupertino's council in June 2011 that Apple aimed to move in during 2015. The council gave unanimous approval in October 2013 after a hearing that ran more than six hours, and staff began relocating in April 2017 — two years behind the date he had named in public.
Sources
- Apple — Apple Park Visitor Center
- Apple Newsroom — Apple Park opens to employees in April
- City of Cupertino — Apple Campus 2 Project Description (April 2013)
- Steve Jobs Presents to the Cupertino City Council, June 7 2011 (official recording)
- 9to5Mac — Steve Jobs presents the new Apple campus to Cupertino City Council
- MacRumors — Cupertino City Council gives unanimous approval for Apple's new campus
- designboom — Foster + Partners tops Apple Park Visitor Center with open-air roof terrace
- seele — Apple headquarters, movable glass facade
- AppleInsider — Apple Park Visitor Center shuts its exhibition space for improvements
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