MacRumors had previously revealed some interesting changes coming to Apple Retail stores this Thursday. These changes include an expansion of the ability to pick-up online orders at Apple Stores as well as a surprising new self-check out capability. These new features will be released as an update to the Apple Store App in the App Store.
As reported on BGR, the new system works as follows:
Online Orders with In Store Pickup and Returns
- For standard in-stock items, the product will become available to pickup in about 12 minutes. This provides the system enough time to send the order to the store, and allow Apple Retail employees to set aside items for pickup. Customers will be able to skip lines, and simply have to sign for them and leave. - For build-to-order, engraved devices or other out-of-stock items, Apple will ship the items to your local Apple Store for free. Customers will receive a pick-up date and a push notification to the App will let you know when it has arrived. Again, 12 minutes from the push notification, the order will be ready for pickup - Apple expects the majority of customers will eventually use in-store pick up for buying products. - Customers will be able to return items purchased online to retail stores.
Self Check Out
This is an even more interesting feature that Apple is deploying that will help streamline the Apple retail experience. Apple will be allowing customers to use the Apple Store app to buy smaller items such as accessories while in the store. Customers won't have to even talk to a retail employee:
Here is how this will work: after you find the item you want to buy, like an accessory, you launch the Apple Store app on your iOS device and there will be an option to buy a product in the store. You scan the product with the camera on your device in the app, click purchase, and it will charge whatever credit card is associated to your Apple ID. You then just walk out of the store.
According to BGR, Apple will not be manually verifying purchases.
Both In-Store Pickup and Self Check Out are expected to be launched on Thursday, November 3rd worldwide.
Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple released iOS 18.2 in the second week of December, bringing the second round of Apple Intelligence features to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models. This update brings several major advancements to Apple's AI integration, including completely new image generation tools and a range of Visual Intelligence-based enhancements. Apple has added a handful of new non-AI related feature controls as...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is no longer planning to launch a hardware subscription service that would let customers "subscribe" to get a new iPhone each year, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Gurman first shared rumors about Apple's work on a hardware subscription service back in 2022, and at the time, he said that Apple wanted to develop a simple system that would allow customers to pay a monthly fee to gain...
Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by Juli Clover
Blackmagic today announced that its URSA Cine Immersive camera is now available for pre-order, with deliveries set to start late in the first quarter of 2025. Blackmagic says that this is the world's first commercial camera system designed to capture 3D content for the Vision Pro.
The URSA Cine Immersive camera was first introduced in June, but it has not been available for purchase until...
Apple launched the controversial "trashcan" Mac Pro eleven years ago today, introducing one of its most criticized designs that persisted through a period of widespread discontentment with the Mac lineup.
The redesign took the Mac Pro in an entirely new direction, spearheaded by a polished aluminum cylindrical design that became unofficially dubbed the "trashcan" in the Mac community. All of ...
Friday December 20, 2024 2:22 pm PST by Juli Clover
It's looking like 2025 is going to be an important year for Apple, with the company planning to revamp the iPhone, push further into smart home products, and improve Apple Intelligence. There are tons of new products rumored for 2025, including new iPhones, M4 Macs, a smart home command center, and much more.
We've highlighted the top five Apple products that will have the biggest impact in...
Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by Joe Rossignol
The current Apple TV 4K was released more than two years ago, so the streaming device is becoming due for a hardware upgrade soon. Fortunately, it was recently rumored that a new Apple TV will launch at some point next year.
Below, we recap rumors about the next-generation Apple TV.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman last week reported that Apple has been working on its own combined Wi-Fi and...
Contrary to recent reports, the iPhone 17 Pro will not feature a horizontal camera layout, according to the leaker known as "Instant Digital."
In a new post on Weibo, the leaker said that a source has confirmed that while the appearance of the back of the iPhone 17 Pro has indeed changed, the layout of the three cameras is "still triangular," rather than the "horizontal bar spread on the...
Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by Juli Clover
Elevation Lab today announced the launch of TimeCapsule, an innovative and simple solution for increasing the battery life of Apple's AirTag.
Priced at $20, TimeCapsule is an AirTag enclosure that houses two AA batteries that offer 14x more battery capacity than the CR2032 battery that the AirTag runs on. It works by attaching the AirTag's upper housing to the built-in custom contact in the...
What happens when you leave the store after a self check out and the box starts letting off sirens when you leave because you didn't disarm the anti theft device inside the box!
Easy. Each item has a unique RFID tag. When you make the purchase your phone sends a message to the store notifying the systems to let that RFID tag through the detectors.
Thank goodness there will no longer be a need to wait 20 minutes for an annoying salesperson to stop chatting with his high school friends and actually (gasp) allow someone to make a purchase.
At the store where I worked we had plainclothes security and cameras all over. Plus, employees always kept an eye on people. Not that hard.
Beyond that, Apple is probably making enough money on the computers and "big" items that a few cases or iPod cables getting stolen is not really a big deal.
So how is your plainclothes security, cameras and force attuned employees going to tell that someone isn't just holding their phone up like they are buying an item in-app when they're not?
