It's not that American English uses singular for groups of people. It's that American English sees Apple as a singular corporate entity.
British English peers past the corporate veil to see the singular corporation as it's underlying people.
British English peers past the corporate veil to see the singular corporation as it's underlying people.
Brits would be more likely to say “Led Zeppelin are on stage”, while Americans would prefer “Led Zeppelin is on stage”, and the reason is the disagreement between whether Led Zeppelin is singular (one band) or plural (4 people constituting the band.)