Ever feeling down and need an immediate injection of happiness? According to Tim Cook you should just head over to the Apple Store because it’s just like taking a Prozac.
During his presentation at the Goldman Sachs Technology Conference, Cook explained why the Apple Store has been so successful because it’s become more than just a store, it’s a place where people can gather and learn about Apple. Kind of like a fantasyland for tech.
Apple’s retail operations were mocked by everyone on the planet when the first Apple Store was opened. But now that the Apple Store is the most profitable retail store in the world, everyone wants to copy what Apple’s doing.
Thanks to some inspiration from the Apple Store, BMW has decided that starting in 2014 they will require all dealers to hire young tech-savvy employees to handle questions from customers about the vehicles on the showroom floor. They’ll even be equipped with iPads and be called Geniuses.
Don’t ever say that the people who work in the Apple Store aren’t actually geniuses. Apple Store employees in the Altamonte Mall in Seminole County, Florida managed to sleuth out a couple of identity thieves who were trying to buy iPhones with stolen IDs.
How’d these Sherlocks do it? They were tipped off by several subtle clues on the IDs themselves, including the fact that they were not made of the correct material, and featured a comical number of misspellings that could only be worse if they wrote down the name of the state as “Flrodia.”
SAN FRANCISCO, MACWORLD/iWORLD 2013 – After you’ve brushed up on your iPhone photography skills and checked out the gadgets on the Expo floor, there’s still a few Apple-related things to do in San Francisco.
It’s a bit disappointing that the strip clubs have decided to stop offering their usual MacWorld free passes – and we don’t recommend you follow Apple maps to the Tenderloin to visit “My Butt,” either — but here are a few ideas.
Apple’s retail store in Paris was targeted by armed robbers on New Year’s Eve, who managed to bag an estimated $1.25 million worth of goods. The attack took place at 9 p.m. local time on Monday, around three hours after the store had closed, Paris police confirmed. Although no Apple staff were on the premises, a security guard and a cleaner were in the store.
Apple has a reputation of excellent customer service. You can walk into an Apple Store and get your device fixed. You can play with an iMac or iPad in the store for an hour without a salesman trying to push you into buying.
Apple usually dominates customer satisfaction polls for physical retail locations, but their Apple Store website may need some help. Even though Apple is the most popular tech company in the world, in 2012 Apple’s ForeSee satisfaction score actually dropped.
Apple’s been focusing their retail expansion overseas the last few years. They recently announced plans to build their first store in South America, and they’ve continued to open up new flagship stores in Asia.
Hong Kong already has two Apple Stores, but a third store is opening up in the Causeway Bay area this Saturday that is both massive and beautiful. The main feature of the Causeway Bay store is its 30-foot glass curtain wall that allows customers to see all three stories of the store while walking by on the street.
Hey, thanks Apple! Order online right now from the U.S. official Apple Storeand you get free 2-3 day shipping. Usually, Apple only offers free shipping if you spend more $50. That will make it a little easier to get a last minute stocking stuffer for your loved ones, don’t you think? Source: Apple Store
Since the iPhone 5 launched in October Apple has limited the number of unlocked iPhone 5s a customer can purchase to 2 units per transaction and only 10 units per lifetime.
Now that Apple’s stock of iPhone 5 units has caught up with demand, Apple has changed its policy on how many unlocked iPhone 5s customers can purchase.
Today is December 1st, which means that it is World AIDS Day, “an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against HIV, show their support for people living with HIV and to commemorate people who have died.” Apple has been a longtime partner with the Global Fund and (RED), and today Apple Stores around the world are honoring World AIDS Day by literally going red. Many Apple retail store logos have been colored red to raise awareness.
Apple has also added a banner on its heavily trafficked homepage that encourages customers to donate towards AIDS research.
Were you crazy enough to brave the murderous masses of people looking for deals on Black Friday this year? If you stopped by the Apple Store to get a cheaper MacBook or something, you probably noticed that the Apple Stores were even more crowded than usual. But then if you went over to a Microsoft Store it looked like just a normal day.
Here’s a video that compares the amount of people visiting the Microsoft Store and the Apple Store. Surprise, Apple won on Black Friday.
There’s a good chance you can think of someone who plans on giving an Apple product this holiday season. Apple has rolled out its own Holiday Gift Guide and has its own gifting information page, which details the basics about gifting Apple products. If you’re looking for a little more assistance when shopping for Apple products then this guide is for you. Here we offer some simple tips to help the average holiday shopper save time and money when gifting Apple products.
Apple Stores usually have some pretty neat display art at the front of all their stores, but this year’s holiday display is probably one of their coolest ever. We’re calling it the iWreath (for obvious reasons). It’s a holiday wreath comprised of iPod touches, Smart Covers, and an iPhone.
Okay, so they didn’t use real Apple products to form the iWreath, but it’s still pretty amazing even if it’s just a cardboard printout. If you head over to your local Apple Store sometime between now and Christmas you’ll be able to see the wonder of the iWreath for yourself.
Source: Twitter
When you walk into an Apple Store the only thing Apple wants you to think about are Macs, iPhones, iPads and iPods. Surrounded by a minimalist technology paradise, nothing is supposed to distract customers. There are no cash registers, shopping carts, shopping bags, receipts or pretty much anything.
Well actually, there is a spot for the shopping bags, cash drawers, and receipt printers, they’re just all hidden from customers. Underneath tables in the store are little secret spots (like in the picture above) that hold shopping bags for customers along with a printer and cash drawer. Next time you’re in a store, take a gander under the tables to see what kind of stuff Apple is hiding.
Source: Reddit
Apple’s primed and ready to take over your entire world of media; Microsoft’s paid cavalcade of celebrity Windows Phone endorsements make us sad; and the big plans Apple has to fan the flames of employee innovation; as you’ll soon hear, no topic is safe from discussion on this week’s CultCast. We even dive deep into the ancient practice of platonic male hand holding.
You think I’m joking…
All that and a Faves and Raves controversy meltdown! Subscribe now to The CultCast on iTunes, or easily stream new and previous episodes via Apple’s free Podcasts App.
Read on for the show notes and to learn how you could promote your product or service on one of our future episodes.
While Apple Stores across the U.S. continue to enjoy a lot of success, Apple is looking to expand their retail operations overseas in countries such as China, Turkey and now Brazil.
According to a new press release, Apple has informed the Brazilian press that they plan to open their first Apple Store in Rio de Janerio next year. If the Rio de Janeiro store is successful, Apple is likely to follow it up with more retail locations in Brazil, which is also where Foxconn has built new factories to assemble iPads.
Every time Apple introduces a new product they love to compare it to a common object that shows just how magically small it is. The MacBook Air fits inside an envelope. The iPod Classic is the size of a deck of cards. The iPad mini is thinner than a pencil. And the 4th generation iPad with Retina display is thinner than a penny! Wait, what?
A typo on Apple’s website says that the depth of the iPad is .37mm, which would make it about as thick as four sheets of paper copy. For sake of comparison a penny has a depth of 1.57mm, so the new iPad is hella skinny. Obviously the image should show .37 inches thick, not millimeters. We’re just surprised this little mistake has slipped through Apple’s perfectionist fingers without much notice.
Source: Apple
Via: Reddit
Last week we reported that Apple was planning to ship initial iPad mini with LTE pre-orders on November 16th, and it looks like units are finally ready to leave home base and make their way to your doorstep.
Customers who have pre-order the iPad mini with LTE are now reporting that Apple has sent them confirmation that their iPad mini has shipped and is en route to its destination.
Apple’s retail stores are ridiculously successful. For the last few years Apple Stores have been the top performing retail locations in the world in terms of revenue per square foot.
This year Apple Stores earned twice as much revenue as the next most profitable retail chain, Tiffany & Co. RetailSails analyzed the world’s top performing brick-and-mortar U.S. retail chains and found that Apple Stores averaged $6,050 in sales per square feet, while Tiffany & Co. earned $3,017 per square feet.
Apple may be waging a thermonuclear war against Android in the courts, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t try to profit off of gadgets running Google’s competing operating system in their online store… even if the word ‘Android’ is nowhere on the item’s product page.
It looks like Apple’s iPhone 5 supply is finally catching up with demand. Last week shipping times for all iPhone 5 models from Apple’s website were listed as 3-4 weeks, but that’s now improved to 2-3 weeks.
While iPhone 5 supply at Apple Stores across the country has been fairly solid, Apple has limited the amount of stock available online. Shorter shipping times for online orders means that Apple is more confident that they are able to meet the overall demand for the iPhone 5.
One of the newest Apple Stores in the world opened up just a few weeks ago in Palo Alto, just a stone’s throw away from Apple HQ in Cupertino. The new store is supposed to be a sort of prototype for future Apple Stores and features a glass facasade that allows passersby to view the entire store from the street.
It’s a fabulous new building, except for one thing – customers have started to complain that the store is just too noisy and loud for their liking. One Palo Alto blogger/resident even tried to go all scientific on Apple by measuring the decibel levels in the store so his complaints would be totally legit.
When you order an iPhone 5 from Apple’s website the current shipment timeline is 3-4 weeks. Foxconn’s chairman Terry Gou recently said that they’re having a hardtime keeping up with the demand because the iPhone 5 is the most complex gadget they’ve ever assembled.
It doesn’t sound like Apple is able to catch up with the demand for the iPhone 5 in a timely manner, but one analyst at BTIG Research says that supply of the iPhone 5 is “almost in balance.”
GIGAOM ROADMAP, SAN FRANCISCO — Back in 2000, no one wanted to buy Apple’s products. Steve Jobs realized that potential customers needed to see and play with Apple’s offerings before they could be persuaded to buy them. So he launched a chain of retail stores in malls across the country. It was risky, but it paid off handsomely.
Now Tesla, the electric car maker run by Elon Musk, is trying to do the same thing. Instead of a traditional dealership, Tesla is building a chain of car showrooms right inside shopping malls.
To build out the chain, Tesla tapped George Blankenship, Apple’s former Vice President of Real Estate, who helped to roll out Steve Jobs’ mega-successful chain.
If you live in a house divided in the smartphone wars, where some members cling to their Androids while you relish the joy of your iPhone 5, you probably have a plethora of USB cables in your house that are completely useless to you. Apple now has a solution.
You can pick up a Lightning to Micro USB Adapter from Apple for $19 now. Use the adapter to connect an iPhone, iPad, or iPod with Lightning connector to a micro USB cable to sync and charge, or to a compatible micro USB charger to charge your device. The adapter is available online, or at your local Apple Store.