Apple Store Down in Advance of (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and New 9.7-inch iPad Launch at 8:01 a.m. Pacific Time

by

Apple took down its online store early this morning as the company prepares to launch its special edition (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in more than 40 countries and regions around the world.

Screen Shot 2 4
Internet users attempting to access the store section of the U.S. site are being met with the familiar "We've got something special in store for you" placeholder, accompanied by a relaunch time of 8:01 a.m. Pacific Time, which is when Apple previously said it would officially be launching the new red colorway iPhone.

Today Apple is also launching a new lower priced 9.7-inch iPad to replace the iPad Air 2, as well as new storage tier options for the iPhone SE and the iPad mini 4.

The PRODUCT(RED) iPhone 7 will be available in 128GB and 256GB storage capacities for the same $749/$849 and $869/$969 prices as the equivalent iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models in standard colors. The anodized aluminum's vibrant red finish has a white Apple logo and white front bezels.

Apple's new tablet, which it is simply calling "iPad", is Apple's new entry-level model at the 9.7-inch size, starting at $329 for 32GB and $429 for 128GB. The device will be available in more than 20 countries and regions.

The new 32GB and 128GB storage capacities for the iPhone SE will cost $399 and $499 respectively, replacing the original 16GB ($399) and 64GB ($449) storage capacities. All other specs for the smaller profile handset remain the same.

The new 128GB model iPad mini 4 with Wi-Fi will start at $399, which was previously the price for the 32GB model with Wi-Fi, which has been discontinued. A cellular model with 128GB of storage will also be available for $529.

During Tuesday's announcement of the new products, Apple also launched new Apple Watch bands and iPhone cases in new colors.

Despite the unusually early shuttering of the store, it's very unlikely that it relates to anything other than updates to the online ordering process to reflect the new products, but we'll keep readers updated as soon as we learn more.

(Thanks, Andrea!)

Related Roundups: iPad mini, iPhone SE
Tag: (PRODUCT)RED
Buyer's Guide: iPad Mini (Buy Now), iPhone SE (Don't Buy)
Related Forums: iPad, iPhone

Popular Stories

Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
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...
Read Full Article
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
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...
Read Full Article • 253 comments
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

'iPhone 17 Air' With Rear Camera Bar Allegedly Shown in Leaked Photo

Tuesday January 21, 2025 12:46 pm PST by
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 ...
Read Full Article • 109 comments
iPhone SE Dynamic Island Majin Bu

iPhone SE 4 Leak Shows Dynamic Island, Casts Doubt on Rumored 'iPhone 16E' Name

Monday January 20, 2025 9:01 am PST by
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...
Read Full Article • 172 comments
airtag 4 pack blue

AirTag 2 Launching This Year With These 3 New Features

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:11 am PST by
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...
Read Full Article
iOS 19 Roundup Feature

iOS 19 Rumored to Be Compatible With These iPhones

Saturday January 18, 2025 10:28 am PST by
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...
Read Full Article
apple power beats pro 2

Powerbeats Pro 2 Coming Soon: Apple to Announce Them 'Imminently'

Sunday January 19, 2025 8:25 am PST by
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...
Read Full Article • 63 comments
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
Read Full Article • 29 comments

Top Rated Comments

bobjonesco Avatar
bobjonesco
102 months ago
Taking the store down for 6 hours just to add two products we already knew about?
Score: 40 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OllyW Avatar
OllyW
102 months ago
It's actually more than two products aside from the new 9.7 iPad and the Product Red iPhone. It also includes added Watch bands, iPhone SE, and additional iPhone cases.

Not to mention any other unforeseen edits/changes that you're not aware of.
Amazon adds tons of new stuff every single day and their site manages to stay up and running.
Score: 35 Votes (Like | Disagree)
robeddie Avatar
robeddie
102 months ago
Actually the new watch bands and cases were already available to buy when the store was updated on Tuesday.

So just iPad, iPhone SE and Red iPhone.

I get that the store has to go down, but 6 hours is strange.
Amazon, ESPN, CNN, Fox News (name just about ANY other site) They ALL update a TON of stuff on their pages constantly and never go down because of those updates.

Any technical argument why the largest TECH company in the world has to go down at all, let alone 6 HOURS to update a handful of items is completely daft.
Score: 18 Votes (Like | Disagree)
fogandflower Avatar
fogandflower
102 months ago
('https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/24/apple-store-down-red-iphone-7-launch/')


Apple took down its online store early this morning as the company prepares to launch its special edition ('https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/21/apple-announces-iphone-7-productred-special-edition/') (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus in more than 40 countries around the world.



Internet users attempting to access the store section of the site are being met with the familiar "We've got something special in store for you" placeholder, accompanied by a relaunch time of 8:01 a.m. PDT, which is when Apple previously said it would officially be launching the new red colorway iPhone.

PRODUCT(RED) models will be available in 128GB and 256GB storage capacities for the same $749/$849 and $869/$969 prices as the equivalent iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models in standard colors. The anodized aluminum's vibrant red finish has a white Apple logo and white front bezels.

It's unlikely that the message relates to anything other than last minute changes to the iPhone 7 online ordering process, but we'll keep readers updated as soon as we learn more.

(Thanks, Andrea!)

Article Link: Apple Store Down in Advance of (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 Launch at 08:01 PDT ('https://www.macrumors.com/2017/03/24/apple-store-down-red-iphone-7-launch/')
[doublepost=1490348421][/doublepost]I don't get it. Why one of the largest technology company needs to shut down its online store to update something?
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bobjonesco Avatar
bobjonesco
102 months ago
It has nothing to do with knowing about the products, they close the site to make alterations to the website reflecting the newest product updates. This isn't anything new.
6 hours. I'm sure Apple has an army of people who manage the website. 2 products. The changes are probably already on a staging or dev server and all they'd need to do is push the new pages out.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wbrat Avatar
wbrat
102 months ago
I don't get it. They already made changes to the store few days ago...

Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Read All Comments