Apple Store

The experience of buying a Mac in an Apple Store

VirtualPants’ experience buying a MacBook Air:

As one of my friends put it, he must have been a great salesman, because convincing me to downgrade is probably harder than convincing most people to upgrade. But it worked. I walked out with a $999 base model 11” MacBook Air, and I love it.

Buying a Mac in an Apple Store is the best way to enter the Apple world. Apple sales reps don’t work on commission so their advice is real.

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Apple store to relocate to Union Square, 94108

San Francisco Chronicle reports today that Apple has now submitted plans to open a new replace store in San Francisco’s Union Square. The new location would apparently replace Apple’s old retail location just a few streets away at Stockton and Ellis.

Last June I bought my MacBook Air 13″ at the Stockton Apple Store. I have good memories of the excellent customer service received. I am sure the new store is going to be gorgeous in a beautiful setting.

via .

Apple’s chief of retail backtracks on his decision

Apple’s chief of retail backtracked on his decision to lay Apple retail staff off:

Browett’s decision reportedly came despite strongly-worded advice from Retail segment veterans that reducing personnel ahead of the annual Back-to-School promotion and the September introduction of the iPhone 5 could create a customer service catastrophe,” reads the report. “Browett disagreed with his staff, and said the chain needs to learn to run ‘leaner’ in all areas, even if the customer experience is compromised.

times ahead. Sad.

(via The Loop).

How to order from a foreign Apple online store while visiting that country

It’s well known that Apple products are cheaper in the US than the rest of the world. When visiting that beautiful country buying a brand new Mac or iPad is very tempting.

The problem is that Apple Stores usually have in stock only the basic and ultimate configuration of any computer model. There is no way to buy a Mac with the exact configuration you would normally order while shopping online.

It would be awesome if you could order a BTO (build to order) Mac with the desired configuration at the competitive prices that you can get in the USA.

The problem is that if you don’t have a US issued credit card you cannot buy anything from the US online Apple Store.

If you are going to stay in the US for a couple of weeks, there is a workaround to that and it’s perfectly legal. I wouldn’t post it otherwise.

The workaround makes use of . It turns out that you can use your foreign credit card to buy an Apple Gift Card in any online Apple Store around the world. The maximum value for an Apple Gift Card is $2,500, which should be enough for most purchases.

The process to buy the Mac of your dreams while abroad goes like this:

  1. Go to the online US Apple Store.
  2. Configure your Mac to your liking.
  3. Check-out.
  4. Select the option to pick up your Mac to a specific retail Apple Store where you will effectively pick up your Mac. This is important as different states in the US have different sale taxes that are added to the total cost of your purchase.
  5. Write down the total cost. It’s probably a good idea to add a few more dollars to that value just to cover for unexpected expenses, such as the recycling tax states like California have.
  6. Cancel the transaction just before you are prompted to enter a payment method.
  7. Go back to the main page of the online store and purchase a Gift Card for the value calculated in point 5. and issued to yourself using your credit card. If you are prompted to enter an address, your hotel address will do.
  8. Wait for the email confirmation and certificate number.
  9. Now you are ready to order your Mac. Repeat the steps from 1 to 4.
  10. As payment method choose your Gift Certificate. You are simply redeeming the Gift Card issued in your name.
  11. Choose the option to pick up the order in the retail store of your choice.
  12. When the customized Mac is delivered to the Apple Store you can pick it up after showing the sales person your ID and the order confirmation email.

I hope this is going to be useful for you.

Be aware that buying any valuable item abroad is subject to import taxes when you return to your home country so be prepared for that. Consult your local authorities for the law that applies to your country before purchasing any product abroad.

A picture gallery of all Apple Stores in the world

This website has collected the storefront pictures of all Apple Stores in the world.

It’s quite an impressive collection of images that remind me of the many places I’ve been to.

Well, you must know that I’ve got this little tradition that I started in December 2004 when I first visited an Apple Store. It was the fascinating Apple Store in Regent St. in London.

Whatever city I happen to be in, for work or pleasure, I always try to find the time to visit the local Apple Store.

I seldom by anything, I just love going there, attracted by some mysterious force. The architecture of Apple Stores is stunning and they are quite often placed in historical buildings that would be a pleasure to admire even without an Apple Store in. At the same time the ambience is always familiar and reassuring.

I find it fascinating to walk around the shop and look at the people playing with the Apple products. The best is observing the soon-to-be Apple customers. You can quite often see that they’ve just discovered the beauty of Apple’s creations. In this occasions I always manage to empathize with them and remember the first time I saw a Macintosh myself.

By the way, if you own an iPhone and have ever connected it to any Apple Store wireless network, it will automatically connect to the wi-fi network of any other Apple Stores around the world. I discovered this by pure chance when entering an Apple Store in Vancouver and hearing the familiar new email notification going off on my iPhone despite having the cellular data roaming off. Sweet.