If you live in Dubai and happen to be an Apple fan, you’re in luck — because the world’s largest brick-and-mortar Apple Store is set to open its doors close to you in just a few months.
Apple’s first ever store in the Middle East is set to be located at the Mall of the Emirates, where work is currently underway on the 50,000-square-foot retail outlet. Expect its grand unveiling in August this year.
Tim Cook just finished a week-long tour of China, complete with stops at new Apple Stores across the country, as well as a visit to the elementary school at Communication University of China, and a meeting with China’s Vice Premier.
Cook created a Weibo account earlier this week to announce Apple’s new green initiatives in China, but the Apple CEO didn’t stop there. Rather than posting to Twitter, Cook stayed active on the Chinese microblogging all week, posting his interactions with customers and colleagues. In just five days, Tim has amassed over half a million Weibo followers (he’s got 1.3 million on Twitter) by keeping Chinese fans updated with seven posts during the trip.
Take a look at Tim’s awesome Weibo travelogue:
In a scary situation which took place on Wednesday, employees at a Californian Apple Store had to be evacuated and rushed to hospital when they became dizzy and nauseous after handling a package which was delivered to the store.
And, no, it wasn’t a Samsung handset!
Stealing Angela Ahrendts away from Burberry didn’t come cheap for Apple. The new VP of retail operations quickly became one of the top paid execs at Apple in 2014, and according to a new report, the former Burberry CEO has already become the highest paid woman in the U.S., beating out Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer.
Amazon and Target have already embraced the wearable-future, where all the hassles of online shopping can be managed from your wrist. Today, the official Apple Store app is getting into the game too, with a new update that finally brings support for Apple Watch, even if it doesn’t have a buy button.
You won’t be able to purchase your next Apple Watch from your wrist, or check out different Sport band options, but there are still some pretty useful features for shoppers on-the-go.
Check out some of the things the neutered app can do:
After Steve Jobs, the original Mac, and the iPhone, launch day queues have to be one of the most recognisably Apple phenomenons of them all: something which speaks not only to the crazy number of sales Apple makes, but also to the devotion of its fanbase.
Recently it looked as if Angela Ahrendts was trying to permanently change-up Apple culture — sending an email to Apple Store employees which proclaimed, “The days of waiting in line and crossing fingers for a product are over for our customers.”
Fortunately, to paraphrase Mark Twain, it seems fears that Apple would do away with the excitement of launch day lines have been greatly exaggerated.
Last month, we reported that the Apple Watch boasted a secret port that could be used in the future to unlock cool accessories… and, maybe, jailbreak the Apple Watch. Later reports, though, indicated that this port was an Apple-only diagnostic port, that could be missing from retail models.
If that’s true, though, no one told Apple’s retail stores. The Apple Watch units available for try-on appointments at Apple Stores around the world still have the diagnostic port.
CHICAGO — I grabbed the black suit jacket I was married in because I wasn’t sure how to dress for a private appointment to try on a $10,000 gold watch.
My look is challenging to class up. The clean-shaven head, long goatee and ample belly blend in better at a biker bar. But I felt halfway respectable-looking when I walked into the Apple Store in Chicago’s upscale Lincoln Park neighborhood for a Saturday morning hands-on showing of the Apple Watch Edition.
Not many Apple Stores are scheduling appointments for the 18-karat gold Edition, but the ones that do provide extra-special attention. I had a friendly guide, two floor supervisors who came by to shake my hand and thank me for my patience, and a couple of hawk-eyed security guards.
Want to try on the super-fancy $10,000 Apple Watch Edition? You might have to do a bit of driving, because in a whopping 75 percent of the United States, it’s totally impossible to demo the solid gold Apple smartwatch.
Only 12 states (and the District of Columbia) have Apple Stores taking appointments to check out the Apple Watch Edition. That leaves 38 states that are apparently not fancy or fashionable enough to offer demos of the schmanciest Apple Watch of all. To see if you live in one of them, check out Cult of Mac’s handy map below, but be prepared to weep.
CHICAGO — It didn’t matter that Mel Torgusen had already ordered her Apple Watch at 2 a.m.
She still had to be at the Apple Store on Chicago’s Magnificent Mile at 10 sharp — just to touch one.
“Ever since the announcement, I’ve been counting down the days,” said Torgusen, standing at one of a dozen stations the store had set up for prospective buyers to try the watch. “I’m an Apple person and I didn’t need to try it on to know I’d want one.”
A steady stream of the curious and devoted filed into the store Friday for the big Apple Watch preview. There were about 20 people who had signed up for the early appointments lined up outside the store when the doors opened. Others who did not schedule appointments for a personal tour went past a showcase of watches, then quickly registered for private showings.
April 24 isn’t just about the Apple Watch. If you live in China, it’s also the day on which the second brick-and-mortar Apple Store opens in Hangzhou — following hot on the heels of the recently-opened gorgeous West Lake store in the city’s Shangcheng District.
The new store is located in the city’s Jianggan District, in a MixC mall that is also home to a number of high-end brand stores and upmarket eateries.
Well, this is a bummer.
Gary Allen, perhaps the most respected voice and enterprising reporter in the Apple Community when it comes to Apple’s retail presence worldwide, is retiring from the blog he founded, ifo Apple Store.
I’ve always found the people who work in Apple Stores to be incredibly helpful and, considering that their job is to sell you on expensive products, honest. One thing that’s never happened to me, however, is having an Apple Store employee suggest that I consider choosing a Samsung handset or Windows Phone over an Apple device.
But that’s exactly what happened the day that YouTube pranksters NelkFilmz dressed up as Apple employees and hit their local Apple Store, with the aim of selling Surfaces instead of iPads. They’re quickly weeded out by the real store employees, of course — at which point things just get awkward.
You can check the video out below.
If you’ve ever walked into a flagship Apple Store unconvinced of the magic of Cupertino’s products, a wondrous curvy, glass staircase might have softened your psyche.
Apple’s retail outlets are almost as well known for award-winning architecture and eye-catching staircases as for the MacBooks, iPads and iPhones on sale. But Apple Stores aren’t the only places to make vertical trips seem like a magical journey.
Trading up from an Android to iPhone is about to get a lot easier, as Apple plans to incentivize switchers by offering Apple Store credit to customers who bring in their old non-iOS devices for trade.
Apple plans to expand its iPhone Reuse and Recycling Program to include non-iOS devices, reports Buzzfeed’s John Paczkowski, who says Apple Stores will soon take everything from Blackberry’s to Windows Phone handsets.
How much do you love the Apple Store? Enough to drop $495,000 to buy an apartment right above one? Then boy, do we have the right real estate deal for you.
The Apple Watch is coming, and this means it’s time for Apple to put all the crappier fitness bands it’s been selling all these years into the airlock and flush them into deep space.
No surprise, then, that Apple’s retail stores are no longer selling the Jawbone UP and the Nike+ Fuelband.
One of the most difficult decisions you will need to make when choosing an Apple Watch is which case size to go for. But the Apple Store app for iPhone hopes to make the process easier by displaying both the 38mm and 42mm Watch cases at their actual size.
I haven’t been to a mall in ages, except to go to an Apple Store. Turns out I’m not alone. Apple Stores have replaced the department stores of yore as the main driver of mall traffic.
As expected, the Apple Online Store has gone down hours ahead of today’s special event. When it returns later today (likely shortly after the conclusion of Apple’s keynote), we expect to see new details about the Apple Watch, and whatever else Apple announces at today’s event.
Former Apple retail boss Ron Johnson is taking on a new mission: helping online retailer Nasty Gal move into the brick-and-mortar retail space.
According to Re/code, Johnson is leading a $16 million investment in the ultra-chic brand, which started out in 2006 as an eBay store, and has risen to bring in more than $100 million in annual revenue. Johnson will also be joining the company’s board of directors, while simultaneously acting as the CEO of his as-yet-unlaunched e-commerce startup, Enjoy.
It may sound like the definition of #firstworldproblems, but some residents of New York’s Upper East Side aren’t happy that they’re about to get a gorgeous new Apple Store on their doorstep, according to a petition.
In fact, they’re mad as hell — and they’re not gonna take it anymore!
Apple’s architectural firm, Foster + Partners, released pictures of the gorgeous new West Lake store in Hangzhou that was recently completed. The new Apple Store was covered by an incredible mural during construction, but the finished all-glass facade is even more stunning.
The firm says West Lake store was made in close collaboration between Apple and Foster + Partners’ engineers to create the perfect environment to view products. The end result is a 15-metre-high glazed box with a design that “combines an understanding of the local context with the philosophy of simplicity, beauty and technical innovation that characterises Apple’s products.”
Check out the store’s floating staircase below:
Apple opened its new store in San Jose, California, on Valentine’s Day, just a day after closing the nearby mini-store that was the last of its kind.
Located just minutes from the mini-store location, Apple Store Oakridge was unveiled at midnight, with employees removing the black plastic that covered the glass. The new retail venue opened at 10 a.m. on Valentine’s Day, with a queue of around 85 people gathering — all of whom received a gray, commemorative Apple T-shirt to mark the event.
We still don’t know the exact date the Apple Watch will ship, but a new rumor claims you won’t be able to pick one up at BestBuy, Walmart, or other non-Apple Stores at launch.
Apple plans to make its timepiece an Apple Store exclusive, according to German distribution sources who claim resellers will be shut out so Cupertino can suck up as much Apple Watch profits in the first year as possible.