San Francisco: Apple has taken a step back in its efforts to reopen its stores around the world, with all six of its retail outlets in the US' Michigan closed as a preventative measure. The six outlets in the state closed on Friday, confirmed by Apple as a "temporary" measure "due to current Covid-19 conditions" in the state. Store listings for the six confirm they are closed for the foreseeable future, with no indication as to when they will reopen to the public, reports AppleInsider. Apple Spring Loaded 2021: New 5G iPads, AirTags & Software Upgrades Likely To Be Announced on April 20.

"We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible," the company was quoted as saying. "We will soon close temporarily," said a notice on the Apple Opera Paris' site (in translation). "For the moment, we are open for the collection of current online orders, and assistance at the Genius Bar for appointments already scheduled before Saturday, April 3," it added.

While the stores are immediately closed, they will still be performing any pre-arranged tasks with customers over the following few days, the report said. The store pages advise they are currently still open for pickup of existing online orders, previously scheduled in-store Genius Support appointments, and any already-reserved one-on-one shopping sessions with a specialist, until April 18. Recently, the tech giant decided to shut down 20 stores in France as the country entered its third phase of Covid-19 lockdown.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 19, 2021 09:24 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).