Apple has developed new facemasks, completely in-house, and is set to ship them to their corporate and retail employees in the coming days. This is the latest attempt by the company to protect employees from the Coronavirus, or COVID-19 pandemic which still sweeps the globe. There are two different masks that are being talked about. The first is the Apple Face Mask and the other is the Apple Clear Mask. Bloomberg reports that the Apple Face Mask has been completely developed in-house by the Engineering and Industrial Design teams, the same teams that work on the iPhone and the iPad. At this time, the Apple Face Mask and the Apple Clear Mask are being produced in enough quantities for all Apple employees, including corporate and retail. It is not clear at this time if Apple intends to produce these in larger numbers for sale to consumers. Apple has till now provided cloth masks to employees and surgical masks to customers visiting their retail stores.

 

The Apple Face Mask is made of three filter layers for particles that you may breathe in and for the air that you breathe out. Multiple layers are essential to keep the veery small particles out. It can be washed and reused up to five times. The Apple Face Mask will have additional covering layer on the top and the bottom, which means potentially better insulation near the nose and the chin. The ear loops are adjustable too. Apple says the materials were chosen after extensive research and testing to ensure proper filtration of air.

 

 

The other mask is the Apple Clear Mask. This is the first FDA-cleared surgical mask that is completely transparent. This has been designed to additionally help those with hearing or vision disabilities to be able to clearly see and better hear the wearer of the mask in an effort to understand them better. For this, Apple worked with the Gallaudet University in Washington, which Bloomberg reports, specializes in educating deaf and hard-of-hearing students.