Apple announced a few days ago that it would open its online store in Vietnam on May 18, as the country still relied entirely on third-party resellers. That day is here, and customers in Vietnam can finally buy Apple products directly from the company’s website with a personalized shopping experience.
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Apple is today updating its online store for business, adding LumaForge’s professional servers to its lineup. For those out of the loop, LumaForge has worked with many industry leaders such as Adobe, Disney, Google, and more.
Apple has updated the Apple Online Store portal for tracking your orders with a fresh new look, befitting the more modern iOS and macOS aesthetics with bold fonts and large photos. Recently purchased products are now illustrated with large product imagery, and you can click through to a much cleaner details view than what they had before.
In a small change to their online checkout system, Apple has removed the support for bank transfer payments (also known as prepayment) from their online store in Germany. It’s unclear if any other countries are currently affected in the online store change but the change today leaves German buyers with the choice of using a credit card, PayPal, or financing as payment options.
Some Apple Watch models shipping as soon as 1-3 days ahead of Apple Store availability
Apple said at the beginning of the month that it would fulfill all May Apple Watch orders with the exception of Space Black Link Bracelets by the middle of the month, then begin selling some models in retail stores for the first time. We’re hearing now that some Apple Retail Stores are preparing to begin limited in-store sales as soon as this week ahead of the Apple Watch’s expansion into seven more countries next Friday, and there will be a small perk for those who’ve waited…
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Apple today has informed employees of significant changes to how iPhones are sold via AT&T and Verizon Wireless, according to sources. As we reported last month, Apple has indicated that iPhones sold via AT&T at both physical Apple Retail Stores and on the Apple Online Store will move exclusively to Next financing plans this month, in June. This means that a customer who wants to buy a new iPhone on AT&T will no longer be able to do so on a subsidy…
Customers receiving their Apple Watches today are being offered online personal setup appointments in emails being sent out by Apple. We first reported last month that these at-home personal setup experiences would be offered.
Apple was not initially expected to offer personal setup for the Sport model, but now appears to be offering the experience for all models …
Apple is in the process of winding down Beats Electronics’ outsourced phone support ties and moving technical support completely in-house via AppleCare, according to sources. Beats Electronics phone support is currently split between Apple and Sitel, a customer support outsourcing firm, and Apple is aiming to completely end that relationship as soon as March. Apple cut several Beats jobs in July following the acquisition. Sitel employees have confirmed that they will be moved to new technical support positions for other companies, and AppleCare employees similarly confirmed that Beats support will soon be handled completely internally. Apple acquired Beats Electronics and Beats Music in May 2014 for $3 billion, and sales transitioned to the Apple Online Store in August. Apple Store Genius Bars began servicing Beats products late last year.
Apple has recently added the 27-inch iMac with Retina display, originally released in October 2014, to the refurbished section of its online store. Currently, the baseline 5K iMac with a 3.5 GHz quad-core Core i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM, a 1 TB Fusion Drive, and an AMD Radeon R9 graphics processor will cost you $2,119 refurbished from Apple. That’s $380 – or 15%- off the price of a new model.
Apple has updated its online store to start accepting PayPal as a payment method in both the United States and United Kingdom. PayPal was already an option for those who shopped through the iTunes Store, App Store, or iBookstore, but this is the first time the company has offered it through the Apple Online Store.
For Black Friday, Apple has refreshed the frontpage of its online store with a rather-drastic redesign. Each product category now dominates the webpage, with full-bleed images of their main product lines. The new iPad updates get the top spot, but interestingly Apple TV and Beats headphones also get prime placement. In fact, the product images for Beats accessories are so large, it only takes four images to dominate the screen.
The strap-line ‘From one gift come many’ headlines the page, which also links up with Apple’s upcoming retail store holiday changes. The same tagline will soon be featured in Apple Store windows around the world, highlighting the wide scope of the iPhone and iPad, as shown below.
Apple Watch will include fitness and health tracking features
Update: Fitbit statement below the fold…
If you’re in the market for a Fitbit device and you’re shopping at the Apple Store, you’ll probably have to shop elsewhere to purchase the fitness tracker. Following report from Re/Code last month that Apple planned to drop the Fitbit line of wearable devices from its Apple Store lineup, Apple has today removed the Fitbit Flex and other Fitbit products from its online store following low inventory over the past week. While its unclear why Apple is no longer selling Fitbit products through its retail channels, on the surface the move is similar to Apple’s decision to discontinue selling Bose headphones and speakers at its retail and online stores.
It was reported last week that Apple would soon stop selling Bose headphones and speakers at its Apple Store locations. Previously, a variety of Bose headphones and speakers were demoed at each Apple Store location and available for purchase there and online. All Bose speakers and headphones have since been completely removed from sale through the Apple Online Store and several Apple Retail Store locations we’ve contacted have confirmed Bose inventory is no longer available.
Update: Apple has confirmed the promo, and according to the T&C online orders are also eligible.
According to our sources, Apple retail employees were informed this morning that beginning today, anyone who purchases an Apple TV from Apple will receive a free $25 iTunes gift card. As of right now this promotion seems to only be available at brick and mortar locations, but we will update this post if it pops up at the Apple online store. The promotion is scheduled to end on March 5th. iTunes gift cards can be used to download movies, music, apps, and more.
Here’s what we know so far about the incoming next-generation Apple TV hardware:
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Due to “limited supply” and “high demand,” the new iPad mini with Retina display will be available at Apple Stores exclusively through the Personal Pickup service for the time-being. Personal Pickup allows a customer to purchase a Retina iPad mini via the Apple Online Store, then pick it up at an Apple Retail location of their choosing. This also means that a customer who wants a Retina iPad mini cannot simply walk-in to an Apple Store and buy one (yet). It’s likely that Apple will allow walk-in purchases when demand meets supply. Apple notified its retail employees of the current sales exclusivity to Personal Pickup customers, and Apple’s own retail website seems to imply similar…
Apple today announced that it has finally filled the role of Senior Vice President of Retail: the Cupertino tech giant has hired Angela Ahrendts. Ahrendts is leaving her role as CEO of fashion retailer Burberry to take the top Apple retail job. Ahrendts will also lead Apple’s online stores. She will officially begin her role in Spring 2014.
You may recall Apple replaced its original Head of Retail Ron Johnson, who left for JCPenney but has since been removed from that role, with John Browett, but Browett proved not to be a good fit and was removed almost a year ago to date.
After multiple years without the ability to ship to Puerto Rico, Apple’s Online Store has been updated with the ability to ship to the United States territory. The option became active this week, and is noted on Apple’s shipping and delivery webpage.
Apple notes on its website that average transit time is 2-5 days, and carrier deliveries occur twice a week in Culebra and Vieques (major islands off of mainland Puerto Rico). Overnight shipping is also an option for certain regions in Puerto Rico for an extra cost.
Apple’s Mac mini shipping times have slipped from 24 hours to 5-7 days, MacRumors notes. The change occurred today as a Bing Search cache points to 24 hour shipping times as of yesterday.
The slip in shipping times currently appears exclusive to the Mac mini, in multiple Apple Online Stores, as Apple’s other Macs are still showing the typical 24 hour times to ship.
While a slip in shipping times does not confirm an imminent update, Apple’s Mac mini was last updated in October of last year and lacks the current Intel Haswell chipset. The last major redesigned of the computer occurred in mid-2010.
The slip also comes at a time in which Apple is rumored to be preparing Haswell-based MacBook Pro and iMac models for release in the coming months. MacBook Airs with Haswell chips debuted in June.
Update 2: The changes appear to be EU wide as pictured above.
Update: Apple updated its warranty policy in France and Germany too. (Thanks @settebit)
Belgian consumer groups have been following the move of Italian regulators in recent months to push Apple for changes to its warranty programs in order to clarify rules regarding a statutory warranty enforced by EU law that requires companies to make sure products are free from defects for two years. It isn’t the only other nation pushing for changes to warranties, consumers groups in at least Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, and Portugal had also filed lawsuits against Apple over its AppleCare and warranty practices. Now, Dutch-language a-n-v.be reports Apple has tweaked its online warranty program in Belgium to meet EU law.
The change in the online warranties tweaks the wording of Apple’s 1-year warranty for free repair and replacements to clarify the 2 year statutory warranty, much the same as what happened in Italy.
Apple published a document on its website highlighting the changes.
From 9to5Toys.com:
After it started offering a selection of refurbished 5th generation iPod touch through the Apple online store earlier this month, Apple today began selling the refurbished 16GB, 7th generation iPod nano in various colors for $129. That’s $20 or 13% off retail, but we’ve seen these refurbished units go for as low as $119 on 9to5Toys.
Apple today also began selling the refurbished iPad 2 and iPad 3 at even lower prices than before with the 16GB iPad 2 with WiFi + 3G now starting at $349 (roughly $180 off retail). Apple has also further discounted its refurbished iPad 3 with WiFi and cellular to a starting price of $409 ($170 off retail). That provides consumers with an additional $50 off its old refurbished prices and matches the best price we’ve seen on 9to5Toys.
Ahead of the Mother’s Day “commercial holiday” in May, Apple has updated its online store with a Mother’s Day theme. Apple seems to be heavily promoting the iPad more than other products. Additionally, the company is promoting various accessories.
Some of you noticed the Apple online store was down briefly this morning, but now the website is live again with some welcomed tweaks to the shopping experience. Now, when visiting the store.apple.com, users are presented with a new scrolling navigation bar for each product category (as pictured above). The most notable aspect of the change is that the new menu is touch-friendly on iOS devices, allowing users on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch to swipe to scroll through the list. It could be a sign Apple is aiming to make its online store friendlier to users on touch screens.
The store also gets other minor tweaks, such as larger grid-style search results for certain products that also implement touch-friendly elements for iOS users. It’s not much of a surprise to us that Apple is looking to make improvements to the online store, as it has recently posted a large quantity of job listings for visual designers and other positions related to revamping the online store experience.
Apple just updated its website following the iPad mini media event with some new videos for the device as well as specs and updated product pages for the new 13-inch Retina MacBook Pro and other products. You can also now view a video of the keynote speech via a link from the Apple.com homepage.
Apple also put its store back online with many of the new products it just unveiled, and it appears to have tweaked its online store with a slightly new design.
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The Apple online store went down last night for a short while. It appears Apple made some minor tweaks, including the ability to receive text message notifications on orders. Apple is now displaying the following text in several sections of the online store in at least Canada and the United States: “Now get order status updates by text message.”
Apple explained on its website that the new feature is an option during the checkout process, and it is available to the following supported carriers: Alltel, AT&T, Boost Mobile, Cricket, Nextel, Sprint, T-Mobile, U.S. Cellular, Verizon Wireless, and Virgin Mobile USA.
Apple Notifications is a text-message-based alerts service designed to keep you up-to-date on your shipment and/or pickup notification status. In addition to standard email notifications, you can also request text message updates when you’re in Checkout. The number of messages you’ll receive will vary depending on the orders you placed.
What to Expect
Once your order ships, or is available for pickup, we’ll send you a text message. The text message will include your order number and a link to online Order Status. Texts are sent between 8:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. in your time zone.
How to turn off text notifications:
To stop receiving text notifications, simply reply STOP to the text message. Texting HELP to 83372 will give you additional information.