Apple is building its next great retail store in your living room. Have you seen the plans? Accelerated by the pandemic, Apple has created new platforms, polished existing services, and renewed its online retail efforts to create a home ecosystem just as immersive and memorable as its in-store experience. There’s just one catch: you’ll need to bring the tables.
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Behind every great virtual Apple keynote is an equally impressive collection of modern furniture and tasteful objects from top designers across the globe. Poring through all six online-only Apple events, I’ve cataloged more than 100 chairs, sofas, tables, lamps, books, and accessories that fill the sets.
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Apple Tower Theatre celebrated its grand opening today in Los Angeles. The new store marks the completion of an extensive historic restoration project and the first Apple Store downtown.
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Apple Tower Theatre opens June 24 in Los Angeles. Let’s celebrate the grand opening of Downtown L.A.’s first Apple Store and the premiere of a significant historic restoration project years in the making.
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When the first Apple Stores opened their doors twenty years ago this week, it wasn’t Apple’s first step into brick and mortar retail. Nearly four years earlier, Apple began a program to reimagine how Macs were sold. That desire to improve the customer shopping experience ultimately led to the Apple Store you love today.
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On May 19, 2001, Apple opened its first two retail stores in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California. Now you can revisit the world’s first Apple Store exactly as it appeared twenty years ago on grand opening day through an interactive augmented reality experience.
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This week marks twenty years since the first Apple Retail Stores opened their doors. From suburban malls to landmark architecture projects in the world’s top cities, the story of Apple Stores is one no individual can tell. It took a global team, still growing today, to shape a crazy idea from dream to reality and prove the skeptics wrong. Here are twenty highlights from along the way.
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Twenty years ago this week, Apple opened its first brick and mortar retail stores to applause, cheering, and seemingly endless lines of smiling faces. What started at two malls in Tysons Corner, Virginia and Glendale, California became a tradition spanning two decades, generations of customers, and more than five hundred new stores.
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Apple’s long-term vision for Rome is about to become a reality with a grand new store steeped in history. First previewed last January, Apple Via del Corso is the result of intense collaboration between countless talented teams across many years.
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Starting today, AirTag and a collection of matching accessories are available to purchase and try hands-on at Apple Stores that have fully reopened. If you’re unable to visit an Apple Store location, augmented reality experiences allow you to compare Apple-designed AirTag accessories and discover Precision Finding from home.
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“The sessions have been like tiny art galleries.” Han, a Creative Pro at Apple Carnegie Library, summed it up best in a discussion with illustrator Ohni Lisle on April 14. The event was the 19th of 21 virtual sessions held over the past 12 weeks thanks to a partnership between Today at Apple and It’s Nice That. Through those tiny galleries, more than 20 leading artists and a global audience of creatives shared profound ideas for a post-pandemic world.
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In the heart of Music City, the rhythm never stops. Singing and spirited nightlife are the drumbeat to a melody of visitors, residents, and artists sharing their love of music.
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Creators are discovering new ways to tell immersive stories through augmented reality (AR). Driving the adoption of AR is a new generation of apps, tools, and technologies that democratize art creation and make virtual worlds instantly accessible to anyone. The evolution of AR from a novelty to an essential communication tool will unlock new experiences for artists, teachers, shoppers, travelers, students, and more.
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Apple welcomed customers to the all-new Apple Cherry Creek in Denver, Colorado today. The new store has a beautiful design unique to Denver with panoramic views of the city.
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In 2011, Apple reversed the direction of scrolling with Mac OS X Lion. It was a point of no return. iOS popularity was accelerating, and the Mac had to adapt. Apple included a scroll direction toggle to smooth the transition. Some people loved the change and longtime Mac users expressed frustration, but one thing was immediately clear: computers had evolved, and there was no going back.
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Visiting an Apple Store looks a little bit different right now. Apple is offering new services and additional safety measures to make holiday shopping a better experience. Here’s what you should know before you visit your local store.
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Adobe is bringing Fresco, its life-like drawing and painting app, to the iPhone. The app is available for free today as Adobe MAX 2020 kicks off online with sessions streamed to artists around the world. I talked with Adobe and an artist beta testing Fresco on the iPhone to learn why they think big ideas can come from a smaller screen.
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The way we learn and create was transformed overnight when COVID-19 swept the world. As Apple Stores closed and in-store Today at Apple sessions were put on hold, an online outpouring of creativity proved that the arts remain essential to our lives even under extraordinary circumstances. When our crisis winds down, how can Apple continue to expand its in-store creative platform online to reach even more creatives looking for inspiration at any time?
On June 15, 2010, Apple released the Apple Store app in the App Store. The app recognized the growing importance of mobile shopping on the iPhone and elevated the in-store experience at Apple Retail Stores. On its 10th anniversary, let’s take a look back at the app’s design evolution and how it changed the way we shop.
A small but growing number of artists are combining emerging technologies with creativity to make the world a brighter place. These illustrators, designers, and digital sculptors believe that augmented reality (AR) has the potential to unlock new forms of storytelling and self-expression. It’s a bold bet, and the artists I spoke to aren’t waiting around to see if the future they imagine will come true — they’re creating it.
“I totally forgot that Rihanna was used as the track for an iPad 2 guided tour. What a weird year.” Sam Henri Gold was giving me a progress update on what would eventually become The Apple Archive. He had just made it to 2011. Compiled from hundreds of videos and images spanning Apple’s near 44-year history, the collection is believed to be one of the largest of its kind ever made available. It launches today.
Apple entered the 2010s just as the iPhone began to explode in popularity. The iPhone became the most successful consumer product, ever. Sales surged for another five years and still make up a majority of Apple’s revenues. However, we exit the decade with the iPhone making up a smaller portion of Apple’s business than ever before, as the company diversifies into strong lineups of wearables, tablets and services offerings.
But nothing is a simple straight line. Apple had to graduate through the passing of its founder, juggle relationships with an ever-expanding list of consumer and professional market segments, and adapt to the public attention and scrunity that only comes along as a consequence of being the biggest company in the world. This is a decade in Apple, on one page.
2019 was a flourishing year for Today at Apple, the program of creative sessions held every day at every Apple Store. New and upgraded stores brought the best Today at Apple experience to more customers than ever before. Artist collaborations and immersive new sessions drove awareness of Apple’s best free resource. And at the heart of it all was a team of Creative Pros inspiring a global community of creators.
Just over four years ago, Apple began rolling out a new generation of retail stores across the world. The idea was straightforward but challenging: Apple Stores should be spaces conducive to creative experiences — spaces for communities to gather. Over 200 redesigned stores later, Apple has learned how to express its values through architecture. Each new space builds on the last with refined ideas, designs, materials, and fixtures.
