Stephen Hackett knows a thing or two about Apple history. For the last couple years, making great wall calendars has become a new skill set for the Relay FM cofounder.
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Apple today started inviting its retail employees to participate in testing macOS 10.12, the latest version of Apple’s Mac operating system unveiled earlier this week during a press event at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. An excerpt from Apple’s memo to employees below:
In India, it’s required that any company wanting to set up a retail location must sell at least 30 percent locally sourced goods, but reports claimed that because of Apple’s “cutting-edge technology,” it would be able to circumvent this requirement. According to a report from Reuters today, however, that is not the case.
In this week’s top stories we break down the latest iPhone 7 leaks, the new iTunes 12.4 release, Tim Cook’s trip to India & much more. Head below for the usual roundup of handy links to all of this week’s most shared stories:
Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down for an extended interview with NDTV while in India this week and in it discusses the latest on Apple Pay negotiations, bringing Apple retail to India, and discussions with carriers and government officials while visiting the country.
While noting several large investments Apple is announcing in India, including the opening of a new development office that will create 4,000 jobs and a new accelerator program for app developers, Cook also confirmed talks with Indian banks for Apple Pay and much more:
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According to a new report from the New York Post, Apple is looking to expand on its iconic Fifth Avenue retail location. While the company renovates the historic cube designed building, it will open in “some or all” of the 61,000-square foot FAO Schwarz space in the GM building. The report notes, however, that the temporary expansion could turn in to a permanent one seeing as how cramped the Fifth Avenue store has become.
According to a new report from LA Business Journal, Apple is in the process of securing real estate space for a new store in Los Angeles. The store will reportedly be located at the historic Tower Theatre in downtown Los Angeles, which could help revitalize the area’s retail business as a whole.
The Apple Store would be located at 800 S. Broadway, although specific details regarding the size of the store are still unclear. Additionally, it’s unknown how much Apple is paying for this retail space. Currently, there is over 250,000-square-feet of vacant retail space on Broadway between First Street and Olympic Boulevard, so Apple likely isn’t paying an extraordinary amount of money for the space.
Apple has officially announced that its new retail store in Marseille, France will open May 14 with the usual announcement on its website (via MacGeneration).
The new retail store, located at the Les Terrasses du Port shopping mall, is Apple’s 20th location in France. That’s if including the shop within Galeries Lafayette that it opened last year as one of several boutique locations for sales of the Apple Watch. Apple is also planning other retail stores for the country including a high-profile flagship location on Champs-Élysées in Paris.
Apple has been working to expand its presence in India for some time now, but according to a recent report from the Times of India, the company is planning to open a flagship retail location in the country. The report claims that Apple plans to open a store in India similar to its iconic Fifth Avenue location, as well as a handful of smaller stores as it scouts real estate.
Today we get our first glimpse at Apple’s plans for that upcoming flagship retail store that we noted earlier this week was in the works for Stockholm, Sweden. The images come from a presentation by Apple (via feber.se) showing off a model and renders of what the new retail location will look like located in Stockholm’s high profile Kungsträdgården area.
Apple looks to be set to open a new flagship retail store in Stockholm, Sweden, according to a report from local news outlet Expressen. The report claims that Apple plans for the store to be similar to the iconic Fifth Avenue location in New York and that it hopes to open it within the next two years.
Apple is set to open its largest Florida-based Apple Store yet in Greater Downtown Miami, according to a new report. Sources close to The Real Deal and South Florida Business Journal have confirmed that Apple has signed a lease with Miami’s new Brickell City Centre to open the new retail location.
Bloomberg reports today that Apple’s mobile payments solution Apple Pay is now supported at 2 million locations around the world. In addition to revealing that 2 million locations now support the service, the report also says that Chick-Fil-A, Crate & Barrel, and Au Bon Pain will also start rolling out support for the service soon.
Apple looks to continue its rapid expansion of its retail stores according to a reliable local report from MacReports. The report claims that Apple is working towards launching another retail store in Istanbul, Turkey. The company is reportedly assembling a team to lead the process, as well as advertising new available positions in Turkey relating to the opening of another retail store.
Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts has recently sat down with Fast Company for a brief interview in which she discusses what her first two years at Apple have been like. Ahrendts previously was the CEO of high-end fashion retailer Burberry. Ahrendts notes of the strategies she’s employed to improve Apple’s retail chain, including her strategy of treating them just as she would treat an executive.
Apple wanting to expand its presence in India isn’t a new development, but according to a new report from the India Times, the company has recently taken a major step in accomplishing that goal. According to the report, Apple has just filed an application with the Indian government to open its own branded retail stores in the company.
French Apple news site MacGeneration today reports that Apple is soon planning to open a new flagship retail store in Paris, France, citing French newspaper Le Figaro. The report claims that Apple has secured a lease for a 20,341-square-feet seven story building at 114 Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The company plans to operate a retail store on the lower levels of the building, while the upper levels will be reserved for office space.
Apple had a small surprise for its retail employees yesterday. After gifting them with urBeats earphones last week, Eddy Cue yesterday sent a video message stating that they would also receive a promo code for a free 9 month Apple Music subscription.
MacRumors reports that the subscription runs for nine months. While nine months rather than a year seems a little odd, it does mean that anyone who has not yet used up their three-month free trial would get a year in total.
With the headphones retailing at $100 (though cheaper on Amazon), and the Apple Music subscription worth $90, it makes the gift significantly more generous than the Incase Staple backpack they got last year.
The urBeats headphones were recently updated to offer a rose gold option.
Ahead of her appearance at Bloomberg’s ‘Year Ahead’ business summit tomorrow, Apple’s SVP of Retail and Online Stores Angela Ahrendts has today made an appearance at Fast Company’s Innovation Festival in New York City. Ahrendts sat down with Fast Company Editor at Large Rick Tetzei to discuss her role at Apple since joining the company in 2014…
Nearly a year ago, a federal judge dismissed a class action lawsuit Apple employees filed against the company for wages they lost while standing in bag-check lines for 10 to 15 minutes before and after their shifts. The case, however, lived on in California. Until today, that is. According to a report out of Bloomberg, a San Francisco judge has today sided with Apple in the case, saying employees could have easily avoided the checks.
As expected, Apple Watch is now available for purchase in India. The launch of the device comes a month after Apple made its iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus available in the country. In India, Apple Watch is available from Apple’s official retail channels and starts at Rs 30,900.
UPDATE: We were sent some images of the Abu Dhabi store in its current boarded-up state, confirming the grand opening date. Thanks, @7Alsabe:
Apple is set to open its first two retail stores in United Arab Emirates in the next couple of weeks. Apple will host a grand opening in Dubai and Abu Dhabi on October 29 for the new Apple Stores, one of which is rumored to be the biggest Apple Store in the world. The company updated its store locations page recently to include the two stores in UAE, announcing the openings of both stores…
Apple looks to further expand its retail presence around the globe with a new partnership according to a report out of the Times of India. The report claims that Apple has inked a deal with the consumer electronics retail chain Croma that will see Croma build new Apple-dedicated retail spaces in six of its retail locations, very similar to how Best Buy does in the United States.
Still no Apple Pay in stores at Target just yet, but Apple Watch will be joining the lineup of iPhones and iPads in select stores this week – and all stores by October 25th.
Target operates over 1800 stores across the United States, greatly expanding the points-of-sale for Apple Watch going into the holiday quarter. Aside from the couple hundred Apple Stores in the US, Apple Watch has been sold in a few premium vendors plus Best Buy, T-Mobile, and Sprint…
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