Apple Retail

From 9to5Toys.com:

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The Apple Store offers discounts on previous-generation, factory-refurbished 3-lb. MacBook Air notebooks, as listed below. Plus, each system, released less than a year ago, qualifies for free shipping and Lion up to Date. At up to $300 off, each model is at the lowest total price we’ve seen. Sales tax is added where applicable. Each item carries a 1-year Apple warranty, the same as new units. Items are removed from The Apple Store when sold out. The laptops (each model listed below features 2GB RAM):

• Refurb MacBook Air MC505LL/A Core 2 Duo 1.4GHz 11.6″ 64GB SSD for $699
• Refurb MacBook Air MC506LL/A Core 2 Duo 1.4GHz 11.6″ 128GB SSD for $899
• Refurb MacBook Air MC503LL/A Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz 13.3″ 128GB SSD for $949
• See all refurbished MacBook Air laptops
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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Hfcl1Z_PjfE]

Love this Best Buy commercial but I’m not sure Apple’s Retail division does.  Best Buy also undercuts Apple significantly in Mac prices.  For instance, they have the 15 and 17-inch MacBook Pros $200 off and $150 off the 13-inch MacBook Pro as well.

They even have $50 iTunes gift cards for $40. (see all discounts)

No offense to our friends at Best Buy, but those price discounts often have a cost: you will almost always get better customer support at an Apple Store. 
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We obviously had to white out numbers above – From Apple’s Retail inventory system.

A source inside Apple Retail has shared with us the numbers for Apple’s Black Friday sales event.  Black Friday is always huge shopping day and Apple forecasted at least 4X sales for the day.  However, because Apple did have the lowest prices on big ticket items like the iPad, it blew away forecasts by 7PM and unsurprisingly had its biggest sales day of all time..

Apple Retail was forecast and broke Retail sales records all over the country today, this is from [redacted] today, the forecast today is more than 4 times what we normally do. We broke the forecast by 7pm.

MacBook Air sales were also particularly strong according to our source.

Apple Store discounts are extremely rare and with more Stores open than ever before, the temptation was too much for many.
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The developers over at Applidium are claiming they have cracked Siri’s security protocol, which could enable the speech recognition technology on any device. The possibilities of devices range from iPhone 4, to iPad, to Mac, to even Android.

Last month we showed you Siri running on an iPhone 4 (seen above), but today the possibilities look beyond that. With the crack, developers could even work to implement Siri inside of their own apps. Of course, Apple could push a fix for this sparking another cat and mouse game.

When it comes to this crack you actually need a UDID of an iPhone 4S to get this working. At any time Apple could block the UDID if they see something suspicious.

Applidium has released a set of tools for developers to begin cracking, and says it will be fairly easy to obtain a UDID with them. Check out their post for all of the details.

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Apple’s US online store today began accepting orders for the unlocked iPhone 4S, priced at $649/$749/$849 for the 16/32/64GB version, making good on its promise to provide the unlocked handset in November. The company advises:

The unlocked iPhone works only on supported GSM networks, such as AT&T in the U.S. When you travel internationally, you can also use a micro-SIM card from a local GSM carrier. The unlocked iPhone will not work with CDMA carriers such as Verizon Wireless or Sprint.

An unlocked iPhone 4S is of particular interest to those traveling abroad as they can just pop in a local carrier’s SIM card to avoid paying exorbitant roaming fees.

Meanwhile, carrier Sprint today begun SIM-locking all iPhone 4S devices purchased Friday, November 11, 2011 and onwards, SprintFeed noted. According to SprintFeed:

Starting tomorrow, all iPhone 4S devices will have the SIM locked. The locking occurs during the activation process and is invisible to the customer (no extra action is needed by customer or rep).

9to5Mac discovered mid-October that Apple Stores in the United States were selling contract-free iPhones. Any GSM phone that was sold off contract was unlocked and we’ve confirmed that they’ve stayed unlocked, even after the 5.0.1 update (below).
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From 9to5toys.com:

Getting the holiday shopping season started a little early this year, MacConnection is offering 9to5Mac readers the base model MacBook Air for the lowest price we’ve ever seen it: $899 (10% off) when bundled with a significantly discounted AppleCare which is just $199 (20% off).  The total $1099 price is $150 below the $1250 you’d pay at the Apple Store and over $60 less than we could find it anywhere else.

This latest MacBook Air includes an Intel Core i5 1.6GHz Sandy Bridge dual-core processor, 11.6″ 1366×768 LED-backlit display, 2GB RAM, 64GB SSD, AirPort Extreme (802.11n wireless), Bluetooth 4.0, Facetime camera, Thunderbolt port, and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.  AppleCare provides Apple’s three year warranty.

Use code 9-5AIRCARE at checkout to get the deal.   Limit 2 per customer, and this will run out soon.

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We have just learned that Apple retail stores are having an “overnight” tonight to setup new Express Lanes.  Apple has used these express lanes in the past to provide holiday shoppers a fast track to purchase Apple products and accessories.  The zone are typically staffed with several Apple Specialists and stock popular laptop models, every iPad and iPod model.

The fact that Apple is using the express lane again this year is a bit interesting because the new Apple Store app was released today, which adds self-checkout and in store pickup.

Alternatively, the brand new Hong Kong Apple store is so busy that it has a year-round express counter (above). Several tipsters have confirmed the overnight and hinted that there may be more in the coming weeks. Don’t get too excited though, this doesn’t mean new Apple products are on the horizon.  Subsequent overnights will probably used to install holiday marketing materials; large banners, easel poster, and device screen-savers.  Two more Express Lane images below…
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Apple is beginning to prepare for the upcoming holiday shopping season by putting the final touches on several retail locations and reinventing the way their visitors buy Apple gear.  Most notable is opening up a flagship store in New York’s iconic Grand Central Station.  Why is Grand Central such a big deal, especially when there are already Apple Stores in New York in affluent neighborhoods?  Here are some quick facts on Grand Central:

1. 750,000 people pass through Grand Central daily and over 1,000,000 people during the holidays
2. Mean household income for Grand Central Terminal commuters is $95,800; 50% of household incomes are over $100,000, and 20% are over $200,000.
3. The captive shopping population of more than 326,000 neighborhood office workers earn a combined $11.3 billion a year.
4. An average 7,500 people an hour pass the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, making it one of the busiest intersections in the city.
5. 21.6 million out-of-town tourists, with a mean income of $62,000, visit Grand Central each year.
6. Grand Central is served by Metro-North commuter trains, 31 commuter and 15 city bus routes, 7 subway lines, buses to and from the area’s three airports, and two million taxis a year.
7. Grand Central Terminal subway station is the busiest stop in the New York City subway system.

The future Grand Central Station Apple Store is progressing towards an end of November opening.  Future employees for the store have been going through their “Core” training for the past several weeks at a hotel in Times Square, Midtown Manhattan…
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Apple is holding a training session with new managers to address unionizing tomorrow, reports CNet. The session will be held to address unions in the workplace and take any legal questions they might have. The internal document obtained by CNet said the following:

“This course is intended to provide managers with a practical understanding of how unions affect the workplace, how and why employees organize, and the legal do’s and don’ts of dealing with unions. This is a mandatory class for all new managers, and is required biannually for all managers.”

The course will then become a biannual occasion for all of Apple’s retail managers. The push for this course by Apple’s executive team most likely comes after early this year when Apple employees began pushing for the “Apple Retail Workers Union” that would address issues of part-time employees being underpaid. Other issues also included training opportunities and break schedules.

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Following our reports last week of Apple’s Ship to Store system being rolled out in San Francisco, we have learned this evening that Apple plans to rollout the new system to all regions this Thursday, November 3rd. The Ship to Store system will allow customers to place an order for a product on Apple’s Online Store and then pick up their purchase at their local Apple Store within the hour.

Customers will also be able to purchase cheaper products like cases on their own inside the store without having to deal with a sales rep, using their iOS device that has a camera. The processing of the purchase will be done through Apple’s updated retail app that will launch before Thursday. Internally this new system is being dubbed “EasyTheft”, based off a pun of Apple’s “EasyPay” system they use in-store to process sales.

We have also learned that Apple is holding an overnight tonight at their retail stores to talk specifics of the new “EasyTheft” system and rearrange accessories that will be available for purchase. We look forward to seeing the new systems in all U.S. retail markets this Thursday.

Thanks Danny!

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Carrier Verizon Wireless, a joint venture of U.S. telecommunications firm Verizon Communications and UK multinational mobile network operator Vodafone, today announced financial results for the September quarter. Big Red sold two million iPhone units which represents a 300,000 units decline compared to the June quarter. Verizon was also behind rival AT&T which yesterday reported activating 2.7 million iPhones in the quarter out of a total of 4.8 million total devices.

In a separate statement, rival AT&T said it activated a million units of the new iPhone 4S on its network as of Tuesday, while Verizon made no mention of iPhone 4S in its quarterly filing. iPhone 4S went on sale in the United States, UK, Australia, France, Germany, Canada and Japan on Friday, October 14. The phone will roll out to 22 new countries later this month, with regional online Apple Stores in those countries accepting reservations beginning today.

Verizon’s full press release is right after the break.

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Last week we exclusively reported that the current line of MacBook Pros is severely constrained and that part numbers for a new MacBook Pro line had surfaced. Based on these similar internal part numbers, the new MBP’s design should be the same as the current design.

Now, we’ve received pricing for the new laptops and the prices for each unit are the same as the prices for the current generation.

With supplies only becoming more constrained, and with shipments already touching down in select countries, we think a launch next week is likely (between Tuesday and Thursday). That is, of course, if there are no unforeseen circumstances. Thanks Mr. X! 

One more thing… after the break:

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Last week we revealed that Apple is planning a small refresh for its MacBook Pro line with modest CPU bumps and possibly improved Bluetooth Wireless networking. Today we’ve found what seems to be evidence for such a refresh in Apple’s own online store.

If you do a search on Apple’s online store for ‘MacBook Pro’, you get a list of Apple’s products. In that list of products, there are two mysterious entries for ‘Macbook Pro Memory Model’ toward the bottom with the caption “Ships: Coming in November”.

Perhaps more interestingly, they link to the following two URLs which aren’t currently active:

http://store.apple.com/us/product/ME_17_2_33_MBP?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

http://store.apple.com/us/product/ME_17_2_4_MBP_PREV?mco=MTY3ODQ5OTY

We’ve heard that these could be the spare part part numbers for the new MacBook Pros and the 2_33 and 2_4 could be the new speeds of the quad-core Intel Core i7 processors (current is 2.0 to 2.3 GHz). If they are spare parts, these often ship a week or so after the new products so the MBPs could come sooner than ‘November’.

Update: 4-year-old MacBook Pro RAM has a similar URL but it isn’t certain if the two parts are related.

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From 9to5Toys.com:

The online Apple Store is having a clearance of the original iPad for three select WiFi and WiFi + 3G models, including the flagship 64GB WiFi + 3G iPad. Now available for up to $200-$230 less compared to their original list prices, these products come looking like new and with the same 1-year warranty that other Apple products receive. All refurbished iPad models also include a brand new battery and outer shell. Supplies are time-limited, as indicated by the Special Limited Time Price designation. Availability is guaranteed upon receipt of full payment.

• Refurbished 64GB Wi-Fi iPad: Now available for $399, down from $599, a $200 savings
• Refurbished 32GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad: Now available for $399 down from $629 a $230 savings
• Refurbished 64GB Wi-Fi + 3G iPad: Now available for $499, down from $729, a $230 savings
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We are getting a lot of reports that those big lines are clearing and Apple Stores actually have some stock of iPhone 4S left over (the shot above is from Naples, Florida). While the lines are much larger than iPhone 4 lines were during the Verizon launch, they aren’t as big as the iPhone 4 launch lines according to a few reports.

Why? Apple now has more points of sale (+Verizon and Sprint Stores, Sam’s Club, etc). Plus, online pre-orders have been popular with 1 million being sold this year in the first 24 hours on 100 carriers (vs. 5 countries last year). Some analysts are predicting up to 4 million unit sales in the first weekend alone.

From our knowledge of the situation, we’ve heard that Apple has thought ahead this time and ramped up production well ahead of the release. In fact, Apple could have released the iPhone 4S hardware much earlier if the iOS 5 software had been ready.

But that’s good news for those who are trying to get in early on the iPhone 4S but didn’t want to camp out or pre-order.

The bad news? AT&T activation servers seem to be taking some time to activate phones with some users reporting 5-15 minute wait times.

What’s the word on the street out there?

Apple’s current line of MacBook Pros is heavily constrained with all models appearing to be nearly out of stock. Don’t fear, though, if you want a MacBook Pro because new models are right around the corner. Updates to all MacBook Pro models have appeared in Apple’s inventory system for the 13-inch, 15-inch, and 17-inch screen sizes. Apple will continue to ship two 13-inch models, two 15-inch models, and one 17-inch model.

This MacBook Pro refresh will not be the expected re-designed models, but will likely bring some marginally faster processors and the Bluetooth 4.0 technology that Apple started shipping in the latest MacBook Airs and the new iPhone 4S. The new internal code names for the updated MacBook Pro line are K90IA (13-inch), K91A (15-inch), and K92A (17-inch). The A in the codename signifies this next MacBook Pro refresh as being relatively minor. Thanks, Mr. X!

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[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csRitIxJre8]

Apple’s flagship Store in Hong Kong just opened in the IFC Center this morning (Hong Kong time). The new Store certainly seems like a pretty big deal to the locals who’ve been lined up for days.

Early this week we published pictures of the beautiful architecture at this new Store. Below, you’ll find some of the videos uploaded around the web showing the excitement in the air at launch:

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It pays to work at Apple! As CNET mentions, Apple has begun testing a new program that lends iPads to Apple Store employees. The new program works like a library book: retail employees can take an iPad home for one week, but then have to return it for other co-workers to use. For now, this program is only taking place at the San Francisco Apple Store. But just wait, there is more coming with Apple Store employees and iPads.

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Last week, we posted a picture from the same vantage point of the un-opened flagship Hong Kong Apple Store at IFC Center. Today however, one of our wonderful tipsters has sent over a first look at the new Hong Kong Apple Store with the curtains taken down. As you can see, this Apple Store is looking absolutely beautiful!

In the inside, you’ll notice employees beginning their training for the grand opening this Saturday, September 24th. Notice that glass staircase running through the center?

Thanks Tim!

Check out the full gallery after the break:

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Since Apple and Intel’s joint announcement of the Thunderbolt high-speed I/O technology, one of the most anticipated products to make use of the technology has been the Thunderbolt-compatible Little Big Disk from LaCie. The drive – which comes in both HDD and SSD flavors – was announced all the way back in February for a “summer” launch, and is now finally arriving at Apple Stores in both the United States and internationally. LaCie’s description of Thunderbolt and why it is important for a product like the Little Big Disk:

This new high-speed cable technology connects computers and electronic devices together like never before. Thunderbolt technology supports two 10Gb/s bi-directional channels from a single port, the fastest data connection available on a personal computer. At 10Gb/s, a full-length HD movie can be transferred in less than 30 seconds.

Since the drive carries two ports, it can be daisy chained. The drives have already arrived at Apple Stores, which suggest immediate availability, and we are expecting an official announcement from LaCie in the coming days. The hard disk drive variant with 1TB of storage will reportedly cost $399.

Update: here they are.

Apple also announced Thunderbolt updates, another firmware update and a software update for Snow Leopard…

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Update: Apple has pulled the listing. 

Some eagle-eyed commenters noted that the Support document about Thunderbolt Displays included an interesting addition.  Apple says that iMac (Mid 2011 and Late 2011) can both support two Thunderbolt displays.

There’s only one problem:

Apple hasn’t released a Late 2011 iMac…yet.

Apple released an EDU-only  iMac in August which is sometimes called “Late 2011 iMac” but that device has no Thunderbolt so that wouldn’t make sense.  Apple last updated the iMacs in May to Sandy Bridge processors.

Rumors of a late 2011 MacBook Pro refresh perhaps could also point to an iMac refresh as well.

Here is Apple’s current support doc on how to identify iMacs:

Interesting to say the very least.
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