Hardware engineering, especially the type Apple does, is extremely hard to do when everyone is remote at their own homes. You can have multiple offices that work on different components, but at each of those locations there needs to be a physical office where the engineers can go to.
You can make the argument that software engineering won’t suffer as much with everyone being remote, but Apple probably doesn’t want to segment their engineers and give some more perks than others.
Also, for people like myself who can only afford a tiny, messy shared 1 bedroom apartment, having an office to go to is a blessing. Even with the 40 minute commute each way, I’m still more productive in the office than I am at home.
You can make the argument that software engineering won’t suffer as much with everyone being remote, but Apple probably doesn’t want to segment their engineers and give some more perks than others.
Also, for people like myself who can only afford a tiny, messy shared 1 bedroom apartment, having an office to go to is a blessing. Even with the 40 minute commute each way, I’m still more productive in the office than I am at home.