An Apple Store hero image is a bit like a social media profile photo. The picture you choose becomes your online identity, and the longer you use the same one, the more it becomes inextricably tied to your personality.
A hero image isn’t just for Apple.com. It’s used in the Apple Store and Apple Support apps, on Apple Maps and Google Maps listings, and even on Facebook. A single snapshot is tasked with carrying your entire perception of a store before you visit.
In one of my earliest issues of Tabletops, I wrote that Apple had begun reshooting some of its most outdated hero images. At the time, many of the oldest extant photos were shot during the golden age of window displays, and new photography has the opportunity to highlight more of a store’s interior.
Over the past two years, Apple has continued the thankless job of redoing its old work. It’s time to say thank you, because the new photos are excellent, and in most cases edited with astonishing skill. By my count, around 174 images have been reshot since February 2022.
Some new photos revealed an entirely new perspective:
Some simply improved the original:
Some announced redesigned stores:
Some have already been replaced:
And some were just very, very necessary:
Store photography is a logistics challenge because it requires coordination between the store team, mall management, and a photography team, which Apple may choose to source locally. Shooting these photos requires controlled lighting conditions, perfect merchandising, and in the case of high-profile stores, help from employees who pose as customers gathered on the plaza.
Put in all that effort, and the clock simply resets. In a few months, the graphic panels and products on the tables will be outdated again. One day you realize there’s still an iPod on the wall.
New galleries
It’s not just the hero images: Apple has also updated some store photo galleries. Apple Nanjing East in Shanghai has a set of four new interior shots that highlight the Avenues, Pickup Counter, and tiny upper level that were constructed throughout 2023.
Shanghai’s latest store, Apple Jing’an, also has a set of four new interior shots that are similar (but not identical) to those previously published on Apple Newsroom.
Last week, Foster + Partners published its own project page and gallery for Apple Jing’an with a bit more insight into the ideas that shaped the store’s design. Near the bottom of the page is a startling figure: “Appointment Year: 2014.”
When Apple Jing’an opened, I emphasized how long this project was in the works, but I didn’t quite realize a full decade had passed. That means the project began before the debut of the “New Store Design” (Vintage D) and shortly after plans for Apple Union Square began to take shape. There’s a good chance the earliest design for Apple Jing’an included classic wall counters, accessory shelving, and a Genius Bar.
Torrance
Apple recently began hiring for a new store in Torrance, California. Just two totally new U.S. Apple Store locations have opened since 2022, so any expansion in the country is notable. Apple already operates a whopping 271 stores in the U.S. That’s 51% of the global fleet.
Del Amo Fashion Center is the premier mall in Torrance and sixth largest mall in the U.S. Take a look at the mall map, and you’ll spot a sweet suite on the main level nestled between lululemon and Madewell that feels ideal for Apple. This space was previously split between J.Crew and Chico’s.
When Apple began hiring for American Dream in 2022, a little more than six months passed before the store opened.
Featured image
Apple Michigan Avenue
Photo via @mi.jakubowski.
A fantastic roundup as always. Tabletops is the happiest thing in my inbox.