Mobile menu toggle

Apple Store - page 26

First third-party watch accessory hits Apple Store shelves

By

NightStand is the first third-party Apple Watch accessory in Apple Stores.
NightStand is the first third-party Apple Watch accessory available in the Apple Store.
Photo: ElevationLab

You no longer have to depend on the Internet to provide you with third-party Apple Watch accessories, as the company has started stocking them in its gleaming, glass-covered retail locations.

The first accessory on offer is a minimalist charging dock that will be compatible with watchOS 2’s Nightstand Mode when the firmware update launches this fall.

Why MacBook screens must be angled at 76 degrees in Apple Stores

By

12-inch MacBook
Apple's got some pretty unique angles for selling.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Have you ever noticed that the MacBooks are positioned at a slightly awkward angle whenever you visit an Apple Store?

As it turns out, there’s method to Apple’s madness — and it’s all about getting customers to adjust the screens, thereby giving them a taste of just how gorgeously tactile the company’s MacBooks really are.

Leaked memo reveals Apple’s obsession with packaging

By

Apple store istanbul
Apple Stores are about to look like this inside and out.
Photo: Apple

We already knew that Apple has taken an interest in how its third-party partners present their wares in the Apple Store, but a leaked memo is describing just how seriously the company is taking this new initiative.

Other than the clean white background that it’s so fond of, Apple is also asking vendors to pay attention to the typefaces they use and even the angles from which they photograph their products.

So it turns out Apple is controlling and particular. Who knew?

Apple to build new flagship store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile

By

Apple's looking for a new home in Chicago.
Apple's looking for a new home in Chicago.
Photo: Zeller Reality

Apple is planning to open a magnificent new flagship store in the heart of Chicago, according to a new report that claims the iPhone maker has zeroed in on 401 N. Michigan Ave. Apple already has one retail store on Michigan Avenue, but supposedly plans to shut down that one and move a half-mile south to the southern tip of the Magnificent Mile.

You can finally use gift cards in the Apple Store app

By

A small but welcome change: Gift cards are now supported in the Apple Store app.
A small but welcome change: Gift cards are now supported in the Apple Store app.
Photo: Apple

Apple updated its Apple Store app for iPhone and iPad today to include support for something it probably should have supported a long time ago: gift cards. If you have an Apple Store gift card – or multiple gift cards – you can now successfully apply them to an order within the app.

Apple increases its presence in China with new flagship Hong Kong store

By

apple-1
Apple's new Hong Kong store in all its glory.
Photo: Bien Perez

Apple is set to open its 23rd Apple Store in China this week — with Hong Kong’s fourth retail outlet opening its doors, Thursday local time, in the city’s tourist-heavy Tsim Sha Tsui district.

This represents another step in Apple’s massive Chinese retail expansion, which Tim Cook has said will result in 40 stores in China by the middle of 2016.

Apple ditches Nest for HomeKit-compatible Ecobee

By

Nest
Apple has chucked out the Nest.
Photo: Google

If you have plans this weekend to saunter into your local Apple Store and pick up a Nest thermostat for your increasingly connected home, we have bad news for you: The company is no longer offering the device for sale in either its retail or online stores.

But could Apple interest you in an Ecobee?

Class-action suit targets Apple’s bag-search policy

By

China iPhone sales
Apple Store employees are hitting the company with a class action lawsuit.
Photo: Apple

The Apple Store’s policy to check employees backpacks after they check out from work has been turned into a class-action lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup in San Francisco certified the case as a class-action on Thursday, after former employees sued Apple for conducting the bag searches at the company’s 52 retail stores in California.

Apple-designed packaging for third-party items hits store shelves

By

Apple is teaching third-parties how to create magical packaging.
Apple is teaching third-parties how to create magical packaging.
Photo: Cult of Mac

Apple is known for its uncompromising demands on quality, and now it appears that the iPhone-maker is helping third-party accessory makers learn the magic of making beautiful packaging too.

Apple Stores have begun stocking third-party accessories with redesigned packaging that was created with help directly from Apple. The new packaging aims to reinforce the Apple Store’s image as premium retail location by matching the color of Apple Stores’ storage wall.

Here’s a look some of the new packaging:

How Apple keeps crappy cases off its shelves

By

ipad-case-apple
Apple won't just let any iPhone or iPad case in its retail stores.
Photo: Apple

Apple put up a new page on its website detailing the qualifications that third-party iPhone and iPad accessory makers must meet before the company will start selling those products in retail stores or online in the Apple Store. It’s not exactly the easiest process to meet Apple’s high quality standards. In fact, Apple now touts that these cases are “tested to the limit” before they make it on store shelves.

This rapper recorded his entire album at the Apple Store

By

Prince Harvey in his studio, aka the Apple Stpre
Prince Harvey in his studio, aka the Apple Store
Photo: Matthew Narvin/The Daily Beast

Recording a rap album is tough, expensive work. Sure, you can bust out a crappy demo on computer if you can’t afford studio sessions, but when Brooklyn rapper Prince Harvey’s laptop got stolen, he found the next best thing to busting out beats at the library: The Apple Store in SoHo.

Apple Stores are set for a ‘premium’ makeover this July

By

Inside Apple's Upper East Side store
Inside Apple's Upper East Side store
Photo: Apple

Apple’s new store in New York’s Upper East Side might be the most posh retail location the iPhone-maker has ever opened, but according to a new report, Jony Ive and Angela Ahrendts have tag-teamed some new design changes for other stores that will give them more of a ‘premium feel.’

Apple Stores allegedly receive first shipments of Apple Watch units

By

post-326405-image-a9f97ef415fcdb2b900c684e26a91057-jpg
Apple Stores finally have Apple Watch in stock

Still waiting for your Apple Watch pre-order to arrive? It might be time to just cancel your order and head down to the local Apple Store.

Apple Stores have allegedly started receiving their first initial shipments of Apple Watch units for sale through in-store reservations and personal pickup when purchased online, claims a new report.

Apple wants to stop rivals ripping off one of its most iconic retail store designs

By

Apple's second most recognizable Apple Store designs?
Apple's second most recognizable Apple Store design?
Photo: Apple

In the West, the most iconic Apple Store is probably the company’s glass cube for its Fifth Avenue flagship store in New York. In the East, however, arguably Apple’s most recognizable retail outlet design is the 30-foot glass cylinder used for both the company’s Shanghai and Chongqing Apple Stores.

As Apple continues its rise in places like China, it is doing everything it can to stop rivals from ripping off its ideas — which is why it filed a design patent on the building, which was published today — naming none other than Steve Jobs as one of its inventors.

Peek inside the just-opened Apple Store Upper East Side

By

Once a bank, the building at 940 Madison Ave. in New York's Upper East Side is now a swank Apple boutique.
Once a bank, the building at 940 Madison Ave. in New York's Upper East Side is now a swank Apple boutique.
Photo: Shinya Suzuki/Flickr CC

A New York building that once housed a bank has been transformed into a pristine Apple boutique. The Apple Store Upper East Side opened Saturday morning, giving a swarm of shoppers a chance to try on an Apple Watch in the former bank vault.

There’s no question that when you walk into this store, it’s to buy something high-end and fashionable. Take a look at the Instagram photos taken during today’s grand opening.

Apple’s iconic Fifth Ave store to relocate during renovations

By

Steve Jobs originally wanted the Fifth Avenue Store to be even bigger.
Steve Jobs originally wanted the Fifth Avenue Store to be even bigger.
Photo: Apple

Apple is opening up its seventh store in New York City this weekend in the Upper East Side, right as its most iconic store on Fifth Ave prepares to undergo major renovations.

According to Apple Senior VP Angela Ahrendts, the company plans to renovate about 20 existing stores in the U.S., including ones on Fifth Avenue and San Francisco’s Union Square, due to the stores outgrowing their space.

Apple Watch coming to retail stores and new countries this month

By

Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Apple Watch supply is finally catching up with demand.
Photo: Leander Kahney/Cult of Mac

Apple has confirmed that the Apple Watch is coming to a slew of new countries, as well as Apple Stores, this month.

Beginning Friday, June 26, customers in Italy, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland and Taiwan will finally be able to throw down their cash for Apple’s debut wearable device by visiting the Apple Online Store or dropping into their local brick-and-mortar Apple retailer.

And that’s not all.

Jawbone will make a return to Apple Stores this month

By

Jawbone's senior product manager Jason Donahue speaking in Japan.
Jawbone's senior product manager Jason Donahue speaking in Japan.
Photo: Macotakara

Jawbone’s fitness-tracking devices were among those booted out of the Apple Store to make room for the Apple Watch, but according to Jawbone’s senior product manager Jason Donahue, they’re about to make a return.

Donahue revealed this tidbit during a presentation in Japan earlier today, during which he told the press that the new UP2 fitness band is expected to hit Japanese Apple Stores in early July — and U.S. Apple Stores even earlier than this.

Apple’s fitness guru hits the road for tour of Asia and Australia

By

Jay Blahnik, Apple'
Jay Blahnik, Apple's Director of Fitness and Health Technologies
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch could become one of the most important devices you can shackle yourself to, so to amp up the Apple faithful into more heatlh-focused nerds, Apple has sent fitness guru Jay Blahnik on a special events tour in Australia, China and Japan.

Blahnik is touring the areas to talking to some of the biggest personal trainers about the intersection between fitness and technology. At the Apple Store in Sydney, Australian personal trainer Michelle Bridges sat down for an interview with Blahnik to talk about some of things she’s learned from filming the Australian version of The Biggest Loser.

You can watch part of their interview below:

Upper East Side Apple Store will open June 13

By

Apple's classiest New York store yet?
Apple's classiest New York store yet?
Photo: Flickr/krystyl cc

If you’re in and about New York after June 13 you’ll have an extra Apple Store to check out, since that marks the date when Apple will open its new retail location on Manhattan’s Upper East Side.

Signage was put up overnight, revealing that customers have just over two weeks to wait until construction is finished on the impressive 4,000-square foot upmarket retail outlet.

Not that everyone’s happy about it, of course.