Apple customers at its US stores can try on AirPods again as COVID-19 restrictions loosen

• Shoppers can try AirPods via walk-ins with or without appointments in US stores, Bloomberg reported.
• Apple stores in Asia have been allowing product try-on for months, according to Bloomberg.
• Apple reopened all 270 US stores earlier this month after shutting down last year due to COVID-19.

Apple is again allowing customers to try on AirPods before buying them at stores across the US, a sign that some in-person operations are returning to normal more than a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, Bloomberg reported on Thursday.

Apple last year stopped allowing customers to try on the AirPods as part of an effort to slow the spread of the virus, according to Bloomberg.

Now, customers can try on the product through walk-ins with or without an appointment at US and other locations, according to Bloomberg. The move comes as more COVID-19 restrictions loosen in the US amid a decline in cases and an uptick in vaccinations.

Apple stores in Asia have allowed product try-on for months, Bloomberg reported.

Apple closed all of its stores outside of mainland China early in the pandemic, and then reopened many with safety precautions including mask mandates. In December,it temporarily re-closed stores in the UK and California amid a surge in coronavirus cases. Apple reopened all 270 US stores earlier this month.

Apple also introduced its Apple Express stores where a wall and a counter of plexiglass at the front of the store separates employees and shoppers with an appointment.