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
Creative Pros from Apple Stores across the world are gathering their best tips and ideas to design inspiring projects you can try at home with just an iPhone or iPad. Today at Apple at Home is a digital extension of Apple’s in-store creative sessions, and a new session has launched just in time to explore over the weekend. Apple is now promising that new videos will be posted weekly.
Apple closed all of its retail stores outside of Greater China on March 13 due to the coronavirus pandemic. After more than a month of closures, Apple’s only store in South Korea is scheduled to reopen to customers at a reduced capacity on April 18.
Adobe is releasing updates to some of its Creative Cloud apps today, delivering promised features for video editors and new capabilities for designers. Adobe and leading artists have also teamed up to provide creative resources and tutorials for creatives cooped up at home.
Apple Stores across the world are closed indefinitely, but that doesn’t mean creativity has to stop. Apple is making the best of an unprecedented situation with the launch of Today at Apple (at Home), an extension of its in-store creative sessions.
Imagine this: you’re sitting among a few dozen friends and strangers to learn illustration techniques from your favorite artists. Everyone is sharing ideas and passing around iPads to start their own drawings. Crazy, right? In the span of just a few weeks, such a simple function of community has gone from commonplace to sounding absolutely utopian, like a story from a grandparent about the “good old days” that you just know is too good to be true.
What I’ve just described to you is Today at Apple, Apple’s series of creative sessions that were held every day at every Apple Store. So what’s a program designed to bring everyone together to do in an era where everyone is intentionally staying apart?
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen, Apple has made the decision to keep all of its retail stores in the United States closed until at least May. In a message obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple’s SVP of Retail + People Deirdre O’Brien reassured store employees that Apple will continue to support them during this difficult time.
Apple’s former SVP of retail Ron Johnson offered his insight on the future of shopping post-coronavirus in a new interview with Yahoo Finance. Johnson was instrumental in the early success of Apple Retail, working alongside Steve Jobs to take Apple Stores from risky concept to global success. He left Apple for JCPenney in 2011 and is now building the retail personalization startup Enjoy.
On a brighter timeline, Apple Stores around the world are stocked with the brand new LiDAR-equipped iPad Pro and updated MacBook Air. In reality, every Apple Store outside of Greater China is closed indefinitely. The 52 stores that remain open now give a rare look into a global product launch that could have been.
When is the last time you drew something for fun? Projects for your job, assignments under a deadline, parts of a larger work — those can all be fun. But when is the last time you drew something just for the sake of drawing? Looom is a new iPad app that encourages imaginative drawing — no strings attached.
As the global coronavirus situation changes day by day, Apple is making tentative plans to begin reopening some of its temporarily shuttered retail stores outside of Greater China. In a message obtained by 9to5Mac, Apple’s SVP of Retail + People Deirdre O’Brien outlined a strategy to retail team members that will begin in April.
If you’re in search of inspiration, a new resource offers a shortcut to creativity. The Inspiration Index site helps you discover artists who have collaborated with Apple on Today at Apple sessions and be inspired by their work.
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.
Apple today issued a letter responding to the growing coronavirus pandemic and outlining steps the company is taking to protect the safety of customers and employees. As part of the precautions, all Apple retail stores outside of Greater China will temporarily close until March 27, effective immediately.
Apple has indefinitely closed all 11 of its retail stores in Spain amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak. The measures come on the same day Spain declared a national state of emergency.
As global efforts to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 disease continue, Apple has temporarily suspended Today at Apple sessions at all stores in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil. The pause in creative programming follows a steady stream of daily new health precautions at Apple Stores and regional session cancelations earlier in the week.
Adobe is releasing an update to its prototyping tool Adobe XD with several new features including audio playback support for more immersive experiences. The March release of XD is rolling out today to Creative Cloud customers.
Apple’s investment in preservation and education for Washington, D.C. is already making an impact on the community and future generations of historians. The Historical Society Of Washington, D.C. announced today in an email newsletter that its DC History Center has welcomed nearly 60,000 visitors since the restoration of Apple Carnegie Library completed in May 2019. The number represents a fivefold increase in visitors compared to the last time the building was functional in 2016.
A new interactive experience in Apple Stores invites you to learn more about tips and features that make the iPhone unique. The display highlights why new customers should switch to iPhone and surfaces tips that experienced iPhone owners may not know.
Each of us must do our part to be mindful of others and keep safety paramount as the world feels the effects of the coronavirus. Apple is facing its own unique challenges during this time, and your next visit to an Apple Store might be a little different. There are a few simple tips you can follow to make your experience better and pass the empathy on to store team members.
As part of the “She Creates” collection of over 5,000 Today at Apple sessions being hosted in Apple Stores around the world this March, Apple is extending its popular Music Lab: Remix series with a new collaboration by artist Alicia Keys. Apple Stores will also offer a new Art Lab highlighting illustrated portraits.
Toronto’s next Apple Store with the latest retail design opened to customers this morning. Apple Fairview moved to a larger and brighter space adjacent to its former location at CF Fairview Mall. The rare leap day opening comes just over two months after Canada’s first contemporary Apple Store opened at Toronto Eaton Centre.
Canada’s second Apple Store with the latest retail design is coming to Toronto. Apple Fairview, located in the CF Fairview Mall, reopens in a larger and redesigned space February 29 at 9:30 A.M. EST.
March 8 marks International Women’s Day 2020, and Apple is supporting the visibility and achievements of women with special Today at Apple sessions held in select Apple Stores throughout the world. From March 1–31, you can join inspiring female creators in the “She Creates” series to learn a new skill and gain a new perspective.
On February 19, 1990, Adobe released Photoshop 1.0 on Mac System 6. 30 years later, it’s impossible to overstate how transformative the image editing software has been to all of our lives. To mark today’s milestone, Adobe is looking to the future by adding new features to Photoshop on the iPad, and celebrating its legacy with updates for the Mac.
