Costco Preparing to Begin Selling iPhone and iPad as iTunes Store Gift Cards Return [Updated]
Back in late 2010, Apple and warehouse club chain Costco parted ways, ending a relationship that had seen Costco carrying iPods and iTunes Store gift cards. The two companies now appear to have patched up their differences, reaching an agreement that will see the second largest retailer in the U.S. begin carrying the iPhone and cellular iPads through its wireless kiosks.
The news comes via an email from Dan Brettler, founder and CEO of Car Toys and its Wireless Advocates subsidiary, which handles wireless sales for Costco. The email was sent to Wireless Advocates employees, notifying them of the new partnership.
Wireless Advocates Team,
I am extremely excited to share the news of a new partnership between Apple Inc. and Costco Wholesale. This partnership will bring a top selling line-up of Apple products to Costco members including the iPhone and embedded iPads. As Costco's solution for wireless devices and services, we are proud to be a part of this new partnership and incorporate Apple products into our already strong product line-up in Costco.
We already know Apple products. They are not new to our business. We currently sell Apple products in two of our three enterprise channels (Car Toys and Military). We already have a great business partnership with them and this new opportunity strengthens that relationship. They are valuable to our long-term success and growth in our space. This initiative will accelerate same store sales through performance gains and new products and services, as well as enhance our strategic partnership with our suppliers. This is critical to the overall success of "Our 5 Strategic Business Initiatives".
In his email, Brettler acknowledges that there is still "much backend work and physical kiosk work" to be done before Costco stores can begin selling iPhones and iPads, and he does not provide a timeline for the start of sales. He does, however, promise to keep employees updated as the project moves forward.
Beyond iPhone and iPad, several Twitter users have reported yesterday and today that Costco has once again begun selling iTunes Store gift cards. This is likely separate from the hardware partnership with Wireless Advocates but part of the broader agreement between Apple and Costco, with the gift card portion moving forward on a faster timeline due to the ease of rollout.
Update 9:09 PM: We've heard that additional Apple products such as iPods and Wi-Fi iPad Airs have begun appearing in Costco's internal inventory systems.
Popular Stories
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app.
Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
A leaker known as "Majin Bu" today shared an alleged image of a component for the rumored, ultra-thin "iPhone 17 Air" model.
The blurry, pixelated image shows a pair of rear iPhone shells with a pill-shaped, raised camera bar along the top. On the left side of the bar, there is a circular cutout that appears to be for a single rear camera. On the right side of the bar, there appears to be an ...
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action.
Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
A new iPhone SE is widely rumored to launch this year, and the device has potentially been confirmed today by known leaker Evan Blass.
In a private social media post, Blass shared an image of what appears to be source code mentioning an iPhone SE (4th Gen), which casts doubt on the alternative "iPhone 16E" name rumored for the device. However, the name in the source code could be a...
After a four-year wait, a new AirTag is finally expected to launch in 2025. Below, we recap rumored upgrades for the accessory.
A few months ago, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was aiming to release the AirTag 2 around the middle of 2025. While he did not offer a more specific timeframe, that means the AirTag 2 could be announced by the end of June.
The original AirTag was announced...
iOS 19 will not drop support for any iPhone models, according to French website iPhoneSoft.fr.
The report cited a source who said iOS 19 will be compatible with any iPhone that can run iOS 18, which would mean the following models:
iPhone 16
iPhone 16 Plus
iPhone 16 Pro
iPhone 16 Pro Max
iPhone 15
iPhone 15 Plus
iPhone 15 Pro
iPhone 15 Pro Max
iPhone 14
iPhon...
Apple provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 18.3 today, and with it comes release notes confirming what's new. While we knew about several of the features that are in the update, there are some lesser known tweaks and bug fixes.
The update adds new Visual Intelligence features for iPhone 16 models, it tweaks Notification summaries on all...
Apple plans to release at least one new iPad Pro model this year, according to a supplier-focused report today from Korean website The Elec. It is likely that the 11-inch and 13-inch iPad Pro models would be updated simultaneously.
After receiving an OLED display last year, the report said the iPad Pro will receive only "minor" changes this year. Overall, the next iPad Pro is expected to...
In September, Apple said that it would be launching Powerbeats Pro 2 in 2025, and it appears the wireless earbuds are coming very soon.
Powerbeats Pro 2 images found in iOS 18 code
In his Power On newsletter today, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the Powerbeats Pro 2 are "due imminently." In addition to Apple filing the Powerbeats Pro 2 in regulatory databases last month, Gurman said Apple is...
