Michael is a Creative Editor who covered Apple Retail and design on 9to5Mac. His stories highlighted the work of talented artists, designers, and customers through a unique lens of architecture, creativity, and community.
Contact Michael on Twitter to share Apple Retail, design, and history stories: @MichaelSteeber
There’s no shortage of iPad creativity apps on the market today, but Adobe wants to prove there’s room for at least one more. Adobe Fresco is a new tool for iPad illustrators promising a truly organic drawing and painting experience that accelerates workflows across multiple devices. I’ve been testing the app to see how natural it feels and how it compares to other tools, including Adobe’s own existing apps.
After building out a robust platform for experiencing augmented reality and powerful tools for learning and teaching coding with Swift, Apple is tackling AR creation and exploration in its retail stores with new Today at Apple Labs, Walks, and an interactive art exhibit visible only through the lens of an iPhone. Here’s what you can expect the next time you visit an Apple Store.
Along Florida’s southern shores, a cool coastal pavilion punctures the tropical humidity. Customers today celebrated the grand reopening of Apple Aventura just outside of Miami. An all-new location and all-new design are just part of the story behind what is undoubtedly the most noteworthy — and the most chill — Apple Store in the Southeastern United States.
Every day, people visiting Apple Stores around the world share photos and videos of their creativity using the hashtag #todayatapple. Impressive portraits, illustrations, songs, and movies reveal remarkable talent unlocked by attending in-store sessions. The posts are inspiring and remind me that even ordinary people like myself can make something extraordinary today. But what happens tomorrow?
Following a global in-store collaboration with Madonna earlier this summer, Apple is partnering with artist Billie Eilish to create the next in a series of Today at Apple Music Lab sessions teaching the art of the remix. The new sessions will be available in Apple Stores across the world beginning in August and are free to attend.
Apple continues to upgrade its classic retail locations with the latest store features and Today at Apple-first design. Aligning with a broader national expansion, Japan’s iconic Apple Omotesando is the most recent store to receive a redesign.
Apple is promoting its plan for a significant retail expansion in Japan with new teaser imagery posted to its retail website. Stylized Apple logos promise two new stores scheduled for 2019 and celebrate upgrades to Apple’s existing store in Omotesando.
Apple is preparing to unveil its most significant retail store in the southeastern United States. Marking the completion of a project several years in the making, Florida’s Apple Aventura will move from a traditional indoor mall space to a one-of-a-kind outdoor pavilion on August 10th, Apple told the Miami Herald.
It’s easy to dismiss how reliant a modern lifestyle is on the ability to constantly charge batteries and consume large quantities of data over WiFi. Even minor interruptions to internet and electrical services can be frustrating inconveniences, but how do iPhones, Apple Watches, and Macs fare during an extended period off the grid? I unexpectedly found out this week.
Apple is preparing to relocate its retail store in San Mateo, California to a substantially larger outdoor space. The move is one of many changes coming to Hillsdale Shopping Center, which is in the midst of a significant redevelopment project. Apple Hillsdale will become the 10th store in the Bay Area to feature Apple’s latest retail design.
Expand
Expanding
Close
The iconic wood tables that fill every Apple Store have long been globally admired as symbols of tasteful interior design. Fewer people are aware that recent top Apple Stores contain a hidden space called the Boardroom. Each Boardroom is decorated with a collection of premium furniture and accessories from some of the most respected designers in the world. We tracked down these hard-to-find items to create a directory for those with a discerning eye for design.
Expand Expanding Close
Photo courtesy of Jayden Lim
Waiting in line for Apple Store grand openings has been a fun tradition for enthusiastic fans since the very first countdown in 2001. There’s still something special about being one of the first in the line, but the most recent store openings have been largely defined by their unique opening day Today at Apple performances and events. At the grand opening of Apple Jewel Changi Airport today in Singapore, early customers celebrated the day with the first public Photo Walk exclusive to the new location.
Plans to construct Canada’s most impressive Apple Store have cleared a major roadblock that previously put the entire project in jeopardy. Following a round of revisions, the City of Vancouver’s Development Permit Board unanimously approved a major redevelopment at the Pacific Centre shopping mall, according to Business in Vancouver.
Apple’s second store in Singapore opens on July 13th at the monumental Jewel Changi Airport. The new location marks an important expansion of Apple’s retail services for travelers and tourists passing through the region or visiting Singapore. Apple has previewed the store ahead of its opening and offered more details about what customers can expect.
Apple’s most significant store in Texas is about to get an upgrade. Apple Highland Village will temporarily close on July 28 while interior remodeling work is completed.
Apple has long been absent from downtown Nashville’s skyline, operating just two retail stores in the city’s periphery. A report earlier this year suggesting a new store in the works for downtown’s Fifth + Broadway development has now been reinforced by recently submitted planning documents. Preliminary renderings of a retail store consistent with Apple’s architectural style give us a first look at what Tennessee may have to look forward to.
Throughout this summer, Apple will host a series of seven after-hours concerts at some of its top retail stores around the world. Performances will feature artists from Apple Music’s Up Next program.
Apple’s latest store upgrade brings the outdoors in like never before. June 29th marks the grand reopening of Apple Bondi, the seventh oldest Apple store in Australia and the sixth in the country to be modernized around a greater Today at Apple experience. As part of the upgrades, Apple has introduced a striking set of floor-to-ceiling green walls unlike any previously installed inside Apple Stores across the world.
Amid a global retail expansion, Apple opened its first and only store in Singapore at Orchard Road in 2017. Now, thanks to the flagship location’s popularity and economic growth in Singapore, Apple will soon open its second store in the region at the expansive new Jewel Changi Airport.
Apple loves augmented reality. Tim Cook says we won’t be able to imagine our lives without it. New products are designed with hardware specifically tuned for AR experiences. A suite of tools unveiled this year at WWDC was built to make creating ARKit apps easier than ever.
Considering the enthusiasm, it’s surprising that Apple’s online and physical retail store environments have largely stood clear of AR to date. How might Apple augment its shopping experience? Is the current technology appropriate for a retail setting?
Sometimes, a change in scenery is all it takes to gain a new perspective. Apple fans in Barcelona today are learning this firsthand as Apple celebrates the grand reopening of its Passeig de Gràcia store following four months of renovation. Changes large and small add up to a new focus on creativity that Apple is sharing with the community.
While Apple customers in major metropolitan areas are often in reach of an Apple Store when it comes time to make a device repair appointment, those outside of city centers or regions without Apple Authorized Service Providers are left with few options. To give more customers access to safe and reliable repairs, Apple today announced that it has now expanded its authorized service network to every Best Buy location in the United States.
Apple is evolving its in-store shopping experience with signage and display fixtures that remove ambiguity and encourage increased hands-on interaction with products. New designs that have been spotted in multiple locations reflect the changing requirements of busy stores and appear to address common customer needs.
Apple Camp is a collection of hands-on sessions offered to kids throughout the summer at Apple Stores. The program is an extension of Today at Apple, providing an outlet for creativity and the opportunity to learn new skills like coding, music, moviemaking, art, and design.