Asian Tech Press (Nov 5) -- Apple Inc. will reportedly no longer require customers to wear masks in many of its U.S. retail stores starting Friday.

Citing an internal memo it obtained, Bloomberg reported that Apple is relaxing its mask rules and will no longer require customers to wear masks in more than 100 of its 270 U.S. stores, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated, as the number of new COVID-19 cases declines and vaccinations increase in the country.

Apple stores lifted the mask requirement in June and announced its reinstatement in July after a spike in COVID-19 infections due to the Delta variant.

Most of Apple's office staff still work remotely. In August, the company postponed the reopening of its offices until January of next year.