All 270 Apple retail stores in the United States opened on Monday. Many had been shuttered for months during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not any more.
This is a boon not only for shoppers but for those looking for repairs and tech support for their Mac, iPhone or other Apple gear. But don’t jump in the car quite yet.
Many Target stores will become better places to buy Macs, iPhones and other Apple products. In a deal announced Thursday, there’ll be twice as much space dedicated to the devices in these locations, and Target employees will get additional training on using them.
Apple reportedly issued “tough new terms” for suppliers who sell products in its physical and online stores, The Telegraph reports.
Apple revealed over the weekend that it is once again shuttering some of its stores as COVID-19 cases continue to climb. All 53 Apple Stores in the company’s home state of California, alongside those in Mexico, Brazil and London will shut their doors temporarily.
Apple has not announced when they will reopen. In the United Kingdom, nonessential stores in Greater London are closed until at least December 30, when guidance will be reviewed.
Apple is making inroads in taking over Samsung’s home turf. Well, sort of.
Cupertino is getting ready to open its second brick-and-mortar Apple store in South Korea, home to Samsung. The store will be located in the main finance district of Seoul, Korea’s capital city. Apple Yeouido is located in the upscale IFC Mall Seoul. No exact opening date has yet been announced.
Apple temporarily shuttered its Apple Walnut Street retail store in Philadelphia as the city is rocked by protests and riots following the killing of a black man, Walter Wallace Jr., by police.
According to Apple’s website, the store is closed from now through at least November 4. An asterisk on the page lists this as “special store hours.”
The Uptown Apple Store in Minneapolis closed its doors for good. Though it might be more accurate to say the store won‘t reopen, as it’s been shuttered to the public since March due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
That didn’t stop the store from being damaged by rioters in May after the death of George Floyd by Minneapolis police. 2020 has been just extra hard on it.
The Apple Store stopped bundling free headphones with all new iPhones sold this autumn. But that’s not true in France. In that one country, buyers still get a pair of EarPods with their purchase… in a relatively enormous box.
But French consumers don’t get a wall charger in the box. That’s true for every iPhone buyer.
Thanks to COVID-19, the idea of queuing up for an iPhone, huddling up with other people eager to get their hands on the latest Apple smartphone, seems like the stuff of another lifetime in 2020.
To ensure that as many people as possible can get the iPhone 12, 12 Pro or iPad Air 4 when they launch this week, Apple’s issued a press release Wednesday detailing the myriad ways would-be customers can give the company their hard-earned cash.
Apple orders could potentially find their way into customers’ hands more rapidly, due to a shakeup in how Apple ships them out, Bloomberg reports.
According to the publication, Apple is beginning to use its retail store network as distribution centers for stock. Previously, it shipped out items from warehouses or even directly from China.
While this won’t mean faster shipping times for all customers, it could do if you live closer to one of Apple’s hundreds of retail stores.
Ahead of the expected launch of its over-the-ear headphones, dubbed AirPods Studio, and a possible new HomePod speaker, Apple has stopped selling headphones and wireless smart speakers made by rival firms such as Sonos, Bose and Logitech.
The rival manufacturers previously had their third-party products available on Apple’s Online Store. However, as Bloomberg reported Monday, they have now vanished. Employees at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores have also been removing the products from shelves.
Apple and Pixar CEO Steve Jobs had some advice for director Brad Bird when he was making decisions about merchandise on the 2004 movie The Incredibles: “fewer things, better things.”
Bird recalled the advice during a recent online chat with Training Day director Antoine Fuqua (who, incidentally, just had his last movie acquired by Apple). Bird also recalled speaking with Jobs about the Apple Store, around the time the company was busy opening the first ones.
Apple is testing a streamlined pickup window for online orders at one of its stores in Northern California. The new initiative, called Apple Express, could roll out to other Apple stores if it proves successful.
Apple designed its own face mask because of course it did. A company long known for setting itself apart from the competition with superior design couldn’t use over-the-counter masks to protect employees and customers from COVID-19.
Instead, the team that ordinarily designs Macs and iPhones dreamed up their own face covering for Apple employees, including the people that work in Apple retail stores.
Opening this Thursday, Apple’s Marina Bay Sands retail store in Singapore is an absolute stunner. Resembling a lantern floating on the water (it’s not actually floating) or a Buckminster Fuller-style geodesic dome, the store may be my favorite Apple Store design yet.
In a year where most of Apple’s focus has been on reopening stores shuttered by coronavirus, it’s a reminder of just how brilliant Apple Store design has consistently been. Check out some of the photos of the new retail site.
Possibly the most spectacular Apple Store yet is set to open in Singapore, Apple’s third retail store in the country.
Apple Marina Bay Sands has a look like no Apple Store before it. It resembles a geodesic dome or giant lantern sitting on a body of water in the iconic Marina Bay, a luxury venue which first opened its doors in 2010.
An Apple Store in Brooklyn was caught up in a violent clash allegedly between Antifa protests and right-wing groups, the Daily Mail reports. The Apple Williamsburg store had its windows broken, while a nearby Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, had the words “Murder Bezos” spray-painted over its storefront.
The incident took place over the weekend in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. Video of the scene shows people in hooded shirts breaking the glass windows of the store by throwing objects against it.
The Apple Store app debuted 10 years ago, and laid an Easter egg to recognize this milestone.
Type in the right words and you can join the celebration with balloons.
Apple opened its second and largest retail location in Thailand Friday. Located in Bangkok’s famous Ratchaprasong, the new store is spectacular even by the high standards of existing Apple Stores.
“In December, I visited the team in Bangkok as construction was underway, and I know they can’t wait to help our customers and to share this special space with the whole community,” Tim Cook tweeted in celebration.
Apple now offers a gift card that can be used at the Apple Store to buy hardware and also at the App Store to buy software. And iTunes is included as well.
Previously, the company sold separate cards, one for iTunes/App Store and another for the Apple Store.
The Apple Thunderbolt 3 Pro Cable comes at a price that should make even the most devoted Mac fan blink. At $129, it costs at least $50 more than comparable cables.
Not everything Apple sells is extraordinarily expensive. But it’s undeniable that the company occasionally adds on the “Apple Tax.”
Apple continues to struggle to keep up with demand for the 2020 iPad Pro. Anyone ordering one from Apple.com on Tuesday can expect to wait about a month.
This tablet is in very short supply at brick-and-mortar Apple Stores as well.
Apple is continuing its string of virtual Today at Apple events by offering budding artists in Chicago the opportunity to participate in free online art sessions.
Called Sentrock’s Summer Studio, the Webex series is aimed at Chicago high school students aged 14-18. It takes place July 27-31, and features “a lineup of Chicago’s most influential creators” as they take attendees into their studios, teach illustration tips and techniques, and share some of their visual styles.
Apple opened its first store in China back in 2008 at Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun mall. Now, more than a decade later, it has opened a spectacular new Apple Sanlitun store adjacent to the now-shuttered location of the original.
Apple Sanlitun is twice the size of the original Beijing store, and includes a viewing gallery, boardroom (for users to get advice from Apple experts), and a forum for future live events. Check out the pictures below.
Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s retail boss, sent a video to retail employees this weekend asking them to sign up to help customers remotely. She also said they should expect store closures caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to continue “for some period of time.”
Separately, Apple told employees that it doesn’t expect to have everyone back in its corporate headquarters before the end of 2020.