100,000 of Apple's N95 masks land in Tim Cook's home state of Alabama amid the coronavirus pandemic

Tim Cook (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

Apple CEO Tim Cook pledged "millions" of N95 masks to authorities.
100,000 of them are now in Alabama.
The masks have been in short supply during the coronavirus pandemic.

Tim Cook said last week that Apple was donating 10 million N95 masks to those who needed them. Now a total of 100,000 have rolled into Cook's home state of Alabama.

While there was little doubt that Cook was true to his word it's great to see the masks starting to reach places where they can really make a difference. The N95 face masks have been in perilously short supply since the coronavirus pandemic took a hold.

Proud to share we’ve been able to source 10M masks for the US and millions more for the hardest hit regions in Europe. Our ops teams are helping to find and purchase masks from our supply chain in coordination with governments around the world. pic.twitter.com/uTsA6eA5ksProud to share we’ve been able to source 10M masks for the US and millions more for the hardest hit regions in Europe. Our ops teams are helping to find and purchase masks from our supply chain in coordination with governments around the world. pic.twitter.com/uTsA6eA5ks— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) March 25, 2020 March 25, 2020

Confirmation that the masks have arrived in Alabama came via the Alabama Public Health Twitter account. The 100,000 N95 masks were joined by another 100,000 surgical masks, too.

The Alabama Department of Public Health would like to thank Apple & @tim_cook for the donation of 100,000 surgical masks and 100,000 N95 masks for Alabama's front line.
Our heroes are those on the front line. Thanks to Tim for helping us protect them. pic.twitter.com/60o2lJDFRQThe Alabama Department of Public Health would like to thank Apple & @tim_cook for the donation of 100,000 surgical masks and 100,000 N95 masks for Alabama's front line.
Our heroes are those on the front line. Thanks to Tim for helping us protect them. pic.twitter.com/60o2lJDFRQ— Alabama Public Health (@ALPublicHealth) March 29, 2020 March 29, 2020

Apple and Cook have been doing their best to keep people safe during the pandemic, with all Apple Stores closed outside of Greater China. Apple offices – including the iconic Apple Park – are also closed in an attempt at halting the spread of the virus.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.