Update 4:00pm PST: Apple’s system status page is all in the green again, and all affected services should be working.
Apple’s internet services are considered quite robust, especially considering the huge number of users. But outages happen to every company with online services from time to time and Apple is no different.
According to Apple’s System Status page, several content services have been experiencing outages for at least the last two hours–an unusually long stretch for Apple. These include the App Store (including the Mac App Store), Apple TV+ and TV Channels, Fitness+, Music, Books, and Podcasts.
Several other services had outages today that were resolved, including iCloud Mail and Calendar, Find My, and Game Center.
Other services like Apple Card, FaceTime, Apple Pay, Maps, News, and HomeKit are unaffected.
The outages do not appear to be global. In fact, in California, we were able to access all these services normally. Because all the affected services are focused on content delivery, it’s likely that one or more of the major nodes on Apple’s global content delivery network (CDN) are having some sort of failure. Some users may find the affected services slow or unavailable, while others will notice no problems at all.
There isn’t really a workaround, though if you find that these services are not working for you, it could be worth trying a VPN, as it could cause you to connect to a different part of the CDN and get things running again.
Author: Jason Cross, Senior Editor
I have written about technology for my entire professional life - over 25 years. I enjoy learning about how complicated technology works and explaining it in a way anyone can understand.