Apple Visitors Center

The $5 billion mothership: close but out of reach.

The last occasion to visit Apple's headquarters was during a shareholders' meeting ten years ago.

The office buildings on Infinite Loop were well-appointed low-rises, but not noticeably different from other Silicon Valley companies.

The $5 billion circular headquarters building has been open for five years, and, since we were in Cupertino, it was time to check out the Apple Park Visitor Center.

It took less than 15 minutes to stroll through the main sections.

The rooftop terrace provided a view of the mothership. Movie images (Men in Black, ET, Independence Day, the Day the Earth Stood Still, etc.) of flying saucers are familiar, but being in the presence of something large, tangible, and circular does stimulate an emotion akin to awe. Millions of iPhone sales went into the headquarters construction.

Having just picnicked, we didn't spend much time in the café. Nor did we linger in the exhibit room, which had a scale model of the headquarters, visitor center, and the rest of Apple Park. The exhibit was distinguished by virtual reality technology; pointing an iPad at any section of the model called up an audio-visual presentation. It's quite an advancement over the cassette players that we used to rent for museum tours.

What I found most impressive were the lavatories, which were pristine and high-tech throughout. There was minimal touching of the fixtures. Even the corridors (pictured) had a futuristic-but-sterile feel. The $80 million (per Wikipedia) for the Visitor Center had to be spent somewhere.

At the Apple Store we bought T-shirts and an iPhone 14 Pro with specifications that we couldn't find at the Apple Store near our house. After basking in the ambience of Apple Park we were indeed privileged to spend money (using Apple Pay, of course) at the Apple Visitor Center.