Today, Apple celebrates 40 years in Singapore. Throughout that time, Apple has worked to foster job creation, economic growth, educational outreach, and environmental sustainability in this island we call home.
Here are 10 things you might not know about Apple Singapore.
1. Apple set up its first office here with 72 employees in 1981 after only 5 years in existence.
2. By end of 1981, 75 per cent of the logic boards used in the Apple II computer was manufactured in Singapore at Ang Mo Kio industrial estate.
3. In Apr 1988, the then Minister for Trade and Industry Lee Hsien Loong officially opened a new Apple factory here that took up an area 245,000 sq feet, or around the size of three football fields.
4. In 1998 when Apple’s charismatic co-founder Steve Jobs returns to the company and launched the iconic Bondi Blue iMac G3, this machine was assembled in Singapore for the entire Asian market.
5. In 2015, Apple partnered with Singapore government and local energy company Sunseap to build solar energy systems to power Apple’s four sites and three retail stores on 100 per cent renewable energy.
6. Apple opened its first official retail store – Apple Orchard Road – in May 27, 2017, at Knightsbridge. At that time, it was the first such store in South-east Asia.
7. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, Apple opened its third retail Store in Marina Bay Sands in Sep 10, 2020. It is the first Apple Store to sit directly on water.
8. Last Oct, Apple partnered with Singapore’s Health Promotion Board to launch LumiHealth, a personalised program to encourage healthy activity and behaviours using Apple Watch and iPhone.
9. Singapore is home to five Apple Distinguished Schools, including Madrasah Alsagoff Al-Arabiah, Singapore’s oldest Islamic education institution for girls.
10. Today, Apple hires more than 3,500 people representing over 50 nationalities as well as supporting over 55,000 jobs in Singapore including local game developer Mighty Bear Games.
