Early September is one of my favorite times to visit an Apple Store. The environment is relaxed, the tables are as quiet as they'll ever be — it's almost peaceful. Everyone is anticipating something new.
iPhone season is about to begin, and with it the snaking lines and noisy excitement of a store full of new products. While we wait, there are a few things to note:
Apple Ginza (for now)
You might have seen it by now, but Apple Ginza's temporary location opened on August 30. Don't let the word "temporary" lower your expectations. This store is full-featured and impressive in its own right, lacking only the signature details of a building designed by Apple.
Each tweet embedded below has many more images attached, so click through for a detailed look:
With the loss of the Theater at the original Apple Ginza, I was also reminded that there is now, to my knowledge, only one store with a Theater left in the world. It's in Osaka, at Apple Shinsaibashi. And it's much smaller than the one at Ginza:
Watch for this
The new Apple Watch band bays we talked about in Tabletops #28 are now rolling out globally. If your local store has Avenues, stop in and check it out. Unlike the 15-foot versions of these displays that were initially exclusive to Apple Fifth Avenue, Marina Bay Sands, and The Grove, "standard" stores have 5-foot or 10-foot designs. Pictured above is the 10-foot configuration at Apple Union Square.
Exhibition
Exhibition — the augmented reality campus tour at Apple Park Visitor Center — reopened mid-August for the first time since the pandemic closed Apple Stores in March 2020 (WWDC week aside).
Beyond a few performance improvements and visual enhancements, there's not much new with the experience yet. That's a little disappointing, considering that the demo debuted in 2017. But perhaps it's a sign that something new is in development and just not quite ready yet.
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Apple Michigan Avenue
Photo via Ne’Tosha Burdette on Instagram.