Thieves last night stole an unknown number of MacBooks in a smash-and-grab theft at the Apple Store located in the Southpoint Mall in Durham, North Carolina. The MacBook units reportedly were display models situated in the front section of the store.

southpoint-break-in
The Apple Store is part of The Streets at Southpoint, a shopping destination that includes both an indoor mall and an outdoor shopping pavilion. The Apple store is located in an outdoor section of the complex, making it an easier target for an overnight theft. The store is currently closed following the break-in.

Smash-and-grab robberies are not uncommon at Apple retail stores, which often are built with glass panels to showcase the interior of the store. In December of last year, the new Haarlem store was the target of a smash-and-grab robbery shortly after it opened. Only a small amount of merchandise was stolen in that break-in.

Top Rated Comments

SilentPanda Avatar
136 months ago
in b4 "they should have used sapphire glass" jokes

Posting that is just admitting you have a premise for a joke but can't flesh out the actual contents that would make it funny.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
BornAgainMac Avatar
136 months ago
The crooks created an Apple Logo out of the broken glass.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
KazKam Avatar
136 months ago
Apple chooses to ignore the concept "Crime Prevention by Design" during store construction. If a business designs its store layout in such a way as to make it easy for B&E artist to steal, then the company can't complain if victimized. Glass is pretty but does little to stop a determine criminal. :p
A lot of people here seem to be under several delusions when it comes to glass storefronts.

First, this is not a problem even closely exclusive to Apple stores. Most Apple stores are in malls. Show me a store in a mall, indoor or outdoor, that DOESN'T have at least a partial wall of glass or gigantic windows in the front. There's a reason it's called window shopping, folks. The percentage of glass makes no difference to the "ease" of breaking in. Is your house more likely to be broken into if it has 20 windows instead of 10? No. If it has one, it can be broken in the same way.

Second, breaking glass is not always as easy as you think it might be. Glass, just like any other material has strengths and weaknesses, and like any other material requires the right tools and technique to break it. Also, the kind of glass used plays a huge part. Some glass is damn near unbreakable (http://youtu.be/x_CiLZY-HGw?t=3m13s).
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
pdaholic Avatar
136 months ago
Unfortunately, the "geniuses" forgot to install the Find My iPhone app.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sunday Ironfoot Avatar
136 months ago
in b4 "they should have used sapphire glass" jokes
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CaryMacGuy Avatar
136 months ago
Durham is a little sketch at times...thats why I prefer the nearby Crabtree Valley location.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18

20 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 18.2

Monday December 16, 2024 8:55 am PST by
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...
apple tv 4k yellow bg feature

New Apple TV Rumored to Launch Next Year With These Features

Tuesday December 17, 2024 9:02 am PST by
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...
iphone 16 apple intelligence

Apple Drops Plans for iPhone Hardware Subscription Service

Wednesday December 18, 2024 11:39 am PST by
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...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Feature 1

iPhone 17 Pro Rumored to Stick With 'Triangular' Camera Design

Wednesday December 18, 2024 2:36 am PST by
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...
elevation lab airtag battery

Your AirTag's Battery Will Last for Up to 10 Years With Elevation Lab's New TimeCapsule Enclosure

Wednesday December 18, 2024 10:05 am PST by
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...
Apple TV 4K hero 221018 feature

Here is Everything New for the Apple TV in the tvOS 18.3 Update So Far

Tuesday December 17, 2024 6:25 am PST by
Apple on Monday seeded the first tvOS 18.3 beta to developers for testing. The update will likely be released in January. So far, there are only minor changes for the Apple TV, with one new feature and a few code changes discovered. Below, we outline what is new in tvOS 18.3 so far. Robot Vacuum Support in Home App First, tvOS 18.3 will add robot vacuum support to the Home app on the...
blackmagic vision pro

Blackmagic Debuts $30K 3D Camera for Capturing Video for Vision Pro

Monday December 16, 2024 4:17 pm PST by
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...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With 'Major' Design Changes and 19-Inch MacBook Detailed in New Report

Sunday December 15, 2024 9:47 am PST by
Apple is planning a series of "major design" and "format changes" for iPhones over the next few years, according to The Wall Street Journal's Aaron Tilley and Yang Jie. The paywalled report published today corroborated the widely-rumored "iPhone 17 Air" with an "ultrathin" design that is thinner than current iPhone models. The report did not mention a specific measurement, but previous...