Apple Retail

Last year’s <a href="http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.php?5795702-100-Apple-iTunes-App-Store-gift-card">card</a>

Update (July 2nd): Yep. Runs until September 6th. $100 card with Macs, $50 with iPad/iPhone.

Apple will likely begin its annual Back to School promotion this week (perhaps as soon as tomorrow), according to Apple retail sources. The promotion will give eligible students an iTunes/App Store gift card with the purchase of a Mac, iPad, and for the first time, an iPhone. The gift cards that come with Mac purchases will be worth 100$ while the cards accompanying the iOS Devices will be worth $50…

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Today, Apple has finally launched a version of its official online store for customers in Russia. The online store is similar in style to Apple’s online stores in other countries. Customers in Russia are now able to order iPhones, iPads, iPods, Macs, accessories, and more directly from Apple to their homes. Apple is celebrating the launch by taking up Apple Russia’s homepage to announce the new store (image above)…

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ifoAppleStore (via TechCrunch) reports that Apple is building a new “big, visually stunning” flagship store in Palo Alto – in the Stanford shopping center, close to the store Microsoft opened last year.

This store design was completed in 2011 by Apple’s long-time architectural firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson. It was approved by Steve Jobs about six months before Tim Cook assumed the position of CEO in August of that year. It took another year to refine the design and obtain building approvals. Demolition on the former building began late last year.

If you’re keen to get a preview of what Apple has planned for its retail stores, Palo Alto is reputedly the place to be … 
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Alleged UK comedian Mark Thomas used his power and fame for advocacy earlier this week at the Regent Street Apple Store  as he led a staged flash mob protesting Apple’s tax practices.
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Apple is making quite a few quiet announcements today. Earlier it introduced a new stripped down $229 fifth-gen iPod touch to replace the fourth-gen touch and also announced 100M iPod touches sold to date. Apple has also now made a change to its education pricing on non Retina MacBook Pros by dropping the $1099 entry level price point to $999. That makes the price of the device $200 cheaper than Apple charges to non education customers.

Apple has not yet made an official announcement, but several 9to5 readers noticed the pricing change early this morning. The second up 2.9GHz MacBook Pro is also now selling for $1,299 ($200 off retail compared to the $100 off most models are available for).

While the new pricing is of course only available to those that qualify for an education discount, we’ve been seeing the same deal pop up on 9to5Toys quite frequently.

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Late Wednesday night, Apple quietly removed the fourth-generation iPod touch from their online store, replacing it instead with a modified version of the current generation. The new model features only a few differences from the fifth-gen, but the omissions are significant.
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From 9to5Toys.com:

Apple this morning dropped prices across the board on iPads in its refurbished section of the online Apple Store as noted by MacRumors. We’ve recently seen quite a bit of iPad price reductions at 9to5Toys, some even steeper than this. For instance, Walmart has a new iPad mini for $80 off and refurb iPad Mini 16GB for $250. The new Apple Store prices:

iPad mini

– 16 GB Wi-Fi: $279, down from $299 previously and $329 brand-new
– 32 GB Wi-Fi: $359, down from $389 previously and $429 brand-new
– 64 GB Wi-Fi: $439, down from $489 previously and $529 brand-new

– 16 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $389, down from $429 previously and $459 brand-new
– 32 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $469, down from $519 previously and $559 brand-new
– 64 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $549, down from $619 previously and $659 brand-new

Fourth-generation iPad

– 16 GB Wi-Fi: $419, down from $449 previously and $499 brand-new
– 32 GB Wi-Fi: $499, down from $549 previously and $599 brand-new
– 64 GB Wi-Fi: $579, down from $649 previously and $699 brand-new

– 16 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $529, down from $579 previously and $629 brand-new
– 32 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $609, down from $679 previously and $729 brand-new
– 64 GB Wi-Fi + Cellular: $689, down from $779 previously and $829 brand-new

Good news for those interested in displays too: Thunderbolt and Cinema Displays are down to $799 (a $30 drop).You know what this usually means…

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As first spotted by our friends over at German language publication Macerkopf.de, Apple appears to be rolling out an option to make purchases on the Apple Online Store using PayPal. The feature appears to be limited to Germany currently, but it could mark the start of a broader roll out to other users.

Apple has never been opposed to offering the option to use PayPal for some services. Users in the U.S. have long been able to setup PayPal as a payment option for their Apple ID on the desktop, allowing them to purchase iTunes content with PayPal on iTunes & the Mac App Store. Apple does, however, already support PayPal payments for its online store in China.

It also allows its education customers to use PayPal for volume purchases of iOS apps, but the privilege didn’t extend to making purchases from the online store at Apple.com.

Apple’s help page for  payments and tax information in Germany now explains how users can opt for PayPal at checkout, but we’ve yet to find the feature live in other countries that we’ve tested.

Users will not have to setup their PayPal as their payment option for their Apple ID, instead they will be redirected to log in using their PayPal username and password at the time of purchase:
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Update: AllThingsD got its hands on some better images (above) and a statement from Apple on the new store (below):

“We’re thrilled to be working with the city of San Francisco on a new Apple retail store at Union Square…. Our store on Stockton Street has welcomed over 13 million customers since it opened nine years ago, and we look forward to serving them in an amazing new location when this project is complete.”

San Francisco Chronicle reports today that Apple has now submitted plans to open a new store in San Francisco’s Union Square. The new location would apparently replace Apple’s old retail location just a few streets away at Stockton and Ellis.

The new building is said to give Apple around 45% more space than its old San Fran retail location and will apparently occupy a building formerly home to Levi’s in Union Square at Stockton and Post Streets.

Apple thinks it will add about 50 jobs on top of the 350 it employees at its current Stockton street location:
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The New York Post reports that the flagship Fifth Avenue Apple Store in Manhattan was flooded following heavy rain in the city this morning due to a leak in the retail store’s roof. The flood apparently began shortly after opening at approximately 8 a.m while around 15 customers were shopping in the store. According to reports from NY Post, employees blamed construction completed on the location last year for the leak:
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Apple has announced that it’s opening a new store in Melbourne on Saturday, based in the Highpoint Shopping Centre in the western suburbs. While the company already has five stores in the State of Victoria, this is the first in Melbourne, Australia’s second-largest city …
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Apple has updated its official China website homepage to offer its respect and sympathy following the disastrous earthquake that has affected the country over the past few days.

The acknowledgement present on Apple’s site reads as follows:

Our deepest condolences to those who were taken away by the Sichuan Yaan earthquake, and respect to all the rescuers. May those who have passed away rest in peace, and may the survivors stay strong.

The company has also offered a statement that pledges cash donations and new Apple devices to help schools that have been affected:

In this difficult time our hearts are with the Sichuan earthquake victims. In addition to cash donations to help the victims ride out the storm, we will also commit to donating brand new Apple equipment to some of the schools in the affected region, and the local Apple staff will be on standby to provide support.

A render by Foster + Partners of Apple’s soon to be constructed Spaceship campus

Following a report earlier this month that Apple’s Spaceship campus project had increased to nearly $5B as lead architect Foster + Partners attempted to trim around a billion from the budget, a new report today claims Apple is now working with the architecture company on other projects. Marketingmagazine claims “sources close to the project” say Foster will soon be assisting Apple with the design of its retail stores:
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Photo: Josh Lowensohn/CNET

Cory Moll, an Apple retail employee who founded an unofficial union for Apple Store staff, is leaving the company tomorrow, having apparently resigned.

Moll founded the ‘Apple Workers Union’ as a Facebook page and now-defunct website, describing it as “a movement of empowerment to bring change and improvement of working conditions to Apple’s retail stores” in response to what some employees felt to be low pay and limited opportunity for advancement.

Moll tweeted earlier today  that tomorrow would be his final day. In an email to 9to5Mac and others, he said:
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