The 15 inch MacBook with Retina display also got a new PCIe-based flash storage, which will double the memory performance as compared to the previous model.

The new iMac starts from $1,999. It also has a retina display, 3.3 GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, AMD Radeon R9 M290 graphics card. With 8GB of RAM and 1TB base storage, iMac is got the perfect changes.

The new MacBook also got improved GPU, which was demanded by thousands of users.

The refreshed models of MacBook and iMac are now available from the Apple store.

There was  recent incident in an Apple store where a 44-year old woman was tasered for refusing to leave the store.  Police concluded that the Apple store tasering was  “justified and appropriate.”

Nashua Police Deputive Chief said the taser was used because pepper spray might have effected others who were going to buy iPhones or other items in the mall.

They had warned the woman previously not to come back to the store because she wanted to exceed the limit of iPhone purchases.  She said she filmed customers who were buying more than two.

There a trend I’m noticing here lately, and that is Apple Stores seem to be increasingly in the news in some form or another.  A couple of recent stories about Apple stores to note:

1. Fake Apple stores are popping up in China
2. A grand ol’ Apple store is coming to Grand Central Station – this is proposed to be the biggest Apple store in the world.

According to the Planning Commission report, “The proposed one-story, 34-foot high commercial building will feature an expansive floor-to-ceiling height accentuated by a transparent glass ceiling. The front façade will consist entirely of transparent glass panels that will project five feet from stone paneled side walls.”

This proposed Apple store – Apple Store 2.0 – is all glass. The entire front facade, and the entire roof, nothing but glass.

According to the Santa Monica Planning Commission, “The proposed one-story, 34-foot high commercial building will feature an expansive floor-to-ceiling height accentuated by a transparent glass ceiling. The front façade will consist entirely of transparent glass panels that will project five feet from stone paneled side walls.” Designs will have to be run by the city’s Architectural Review Board before they’re final.

via Curbed

I wrote yesterday about how Pete Cashmore was in Grand Central yesterday and took a picture of what an Apple store might look like inside the Grand Central Station.  At the time, it was only expected that a bid would be approved for the Apple store to be in GC.

But it’s now official – Apple has won the bid to build their Apple Store inside of Grand Central in New York City.

The store will be a whopping 23,000 square feet which will make it the world’s largest Apple store.  New York City’s financial board will approve the 10 year lease to Apple sometime today.

What’s interesting is that Apple delivered the bid for the new store to the Metropolitan Transit Authority in a linen-lined box, symbolizing an expensive gift was being sent.

And funnier still, the blueprints for the new store are set to arrive on a velvet pillow.

According to PCWorld, the lease for the new Apple store will cost Apple $800,000 a year for the first ten years, which is more than half a million dollars a year more than the space’s current owners. After the first ten years, Apple’s rent is expected to jump to more than a million dollars a year.

Not cheap by any means.  But on the other hand, imagine the amount of people that will be through the store shopping, especially when Apple has a new iPhone or iPad coming to market – when that happens, it will be chaos inside the GC.

Images via WSJ

I wrote a couple of days ago about a suspected fake Apple store that popped up in Kunming, China. The fake Apple store was decked out in all the standard Apple garb.  The employees were wearing blue shirts.  Everyone was happy and smiling.  And there were even Apple devices laying out on to play with such as the iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

But what was out of line, according to the initial whistle blower, was the paint on the walls was chipped, the Apple store sign out front actually said “Apple Store” – when any true Apple fan knows that Apple would never do such a thing; Apple simply puts out a sign with the Apple logo and no text.

Apparently all the publicity has taken an effect in China, and it is now reported that China officials will be moving in to close down the fake Apple store.  And from the initial reports, there was reportedly at least three fake Apple stores in Kunming, China.

Here’s a news video covering the fake Apple store story:

According to the New York Post, tech giant Apple has inked a 10-year deal with the MTA to open its largest store in the world in Grand Central Terminal.  The 23,000-square-foot store will take up Grand Central’s north and northeast balconies, displacing Charlie Palmer’s Metrazur restaurant, according to MTA documents.  Apple will initially pay rent of $800,000 a year, nearly half a million more than Metrazur paid.  After 10 years, the rent will balloon to more than $1 million annually.

This would be the largest Apple store in the world, and when new product launches hit, you better believe that GC will be nothing short of a mad house.  Trains will be backed up for miles just trying to get in there.

Just wait until a new iPhone and iPad release launches…

Here’s Pete Cashmore’s image mock up of the Apple store coming to GC:

Retail store Target has announced today they will be selling Apple’s iPad. Target will be carrying all makes and models of the iPad at the exact same price as Apple sells the device in their retail stores. So why in the world would Target want to sell the iPad at the same price as Apple, at seemingly no profit to Target? Because the iPad will dramatically increase foot traffic through the Target stores, and in turn, Target will sell more items throughout the store. Target become the second non-Apple retail store to sell the iPad in the United States – Best Buy is the first.

Thoughts?

via PCMag

Apple has added their Genius recommendation system to iPad apps in the app store.

iPad tablet owners can now add Genius recommendations in the app store while browsing for new apps.

If you own an iPad, simply enable “Genius” next to “Updates”.

Once enabled, you’ll be given a list of apps that you may be interested in based on past apps and downloads you’ve made.

This new feature for acquiring apps on your iPad will work well with Apple’s system of “try before you buy” system.

Now you can demo an app on your iPad before you buy it!

Pretty cool huh?

The Apple Store website is down!

This is quite possibly the only website in history that when it goes down, millions of people get excited.

That’s because when the Apple Store website goes down, it means new goodies are on their way.

The rumored “newness” this time however isn’t going to be a new iPhone, or even a new iPad.

According to Engadget, Apple’s got a new lineup of Mac Pros and some updated iMacs to show you.

As is typical for Apple, we can expect the Apple Store to be back up around 8:30’ish, in standard Apple fashion.

Apple has just announced their free iPhone 4 case program. Anyone who purchased an iPhone 4 before September 30th, 2010 is eligible to receive an iPhone 4 Bumper case, or a select third-part case from Apple at no charge.

This program is in response to the iPhone 4 Grip of Death problem that has plagued around 2% of iPhone 4’s. So in response to this problem, Apple is now giving away free iPhone 4 Bumper cases. The case has been proven to nearly 100% mitigate the iPhone 4 signal strength problem (Grip of Death).

Here’s how to get your free iPhone 4 Bumper Case

1. Download the free iPhone 4 Bumper case iPhone app
2. Launch the app on your iPhone 4 > sign into you iTunes Store account or Apple ID
3. Select your Bumper of case

That’s it – then proceed to an AT&T or Apple retail store to get your free Bumper case.

If you previously purchased an iPhone 4 Bumper case:

If you already purchased an iPhone 4 Bumper case then Apple will give you a full refund, to include any taxes and shipping fees you may have incurred.

Credit card

If you used your credit card then your account has already been refunded. Apple is saying that it may take up to one billing cycle for you refund to appear.

Cash, check, or gift card at an Apple Retail Store

Return to the Apple store where you purchased your iPhone 4 with your receipt by September 30, 2010, to get your refund.

Gift card on the Apple Online Store

Apple will automatically mail you a new gift card for the refund amount.

If you bought from an AT&T Store

Apple will reimburse you for the purchase price of your iPhone 4 Bumper. Just fill out this rebate coupon and mail it to us by September 30, 2010. Apple will also send your rebate as soon as we process your claim.

Read terms and conditions here

If you are still rushing to pre order your iPhone 4 so that you are guaranteed a hands on date of June 24th, you might want to put on the brakes and take a read.

The Apple store website has updated their information and the iPhone 4 ship date has been updated to read “Ships by July 2nd”. And that is the same for both the 16GB and the 32GB iPhone 4 pre orders.

The AT&T and Apple chaos that unfolded today with the pre order of the iPhone 4 has caused a lot of people to actually hate AT&T even more than they did before. And for those who have been waiting, and perhaps even staying up going on 24 hours now, only to see that the ship date for pre orders has been pushed to July 2nd are not very happy campers right now.

There was even a rumor earlier today of a July 10th iPhone 4 ship date. This came from someone who sent me a message telling me they just left an AT&T store and was told that the iPhone 4 may not actually arrive until as late as July 10th.

But the July 2nd date is solid since this is what is actually printed on the Apple store website.

It is being announced that AT&T has officially sold out of their allotment of iPhone 4 pre order inventories. So you might have been thinking that the AT&T website was down due to traffic to the site – which very well may have been. But it is also possible that the AT&T website was down to make the necessary changes to remove the iPhone 4 pre order links.

Engadget was able to get a confirmation on this situation directly from AT&T stating that, “Because of the incredible interest in iPhone 4, today was the busiest online sales day in AT&T history. As of Tuesday afternoon, customers who preorder iPhone 4 moving forward will receive their device on June 25 or later, depending on when the order is placed. We’ll email customers with confirmation once their order is placed, and again when it ships. In addition, we will have devices available on a first-come, first-serve basis in our stores beginning on June 24.”

So now I think we can officially say that Apple was not quite prepared with their inventory for pre order demand here in the United States. This is also evident of the fact that white iPhone 4’s were never available to begin with.

I am currently unsure as to the inventory status of iPhone 4’s on the Apple online store. Currently, if you visit the Apple store there isn’t any links or indication that they are out of iPhone 4 pre order supplies.

In case you didn’t know yet, the iPhone 4 was released today for pre order. The AT&T website has their links up around 4am this morning EST (I think), then the Apple store didn’t come online with their updated store until around 9am EST.

Ever since 12am (midnight) EST, the AT&T and Apple store websites have been struggling with the influx in traffic. These are eager iPhone 4 customers who are rushing to get their pre order in, and get in early.

However, a lot of people have been reporting that the AT&T website has been down several times. There are even reports that the Apple store has been down a couple of times since the iPhone 4 pre order links were launched.

Keeping up with spikes in traffic is not the easiest thing in the world to have to deal with. The best solution that I’ve found is by hosting your site on cloud servers. More specifically, cloud servers that automatically re-allocate resources to sites with spiking traffic (i.e. like AT&T and Apple store online today).

This is called “scaling”, and it means that server allocation will shift and open up as much resources as need be to facilitate increased traffic spikes.

Perhaps AT&T and Apple’s online store could find a cloud server solution valuable for times like this.

What do you think?

It’s been a long night for some people as they’ve been waiting since 12am EST for the iPhone 4 pre order links to appear on the AT&T and Apple store websites. The iPhone 4 pre order links appeared on the AT&T website sooner than the Apple website by about 4 hours or so.

When iPhone 4 pre order hit AT&T’s website, there were several comments coming into this site about people having trouble completing the their order. They were saying that their computer screens were stuck in processing mode – some even reported that they simply walked away from their computers and went to bed, only to wake up with their computer screens in the same “processing” status.

AT&T and Apple in Full iPhone 4 Pre Order swing

Both AT&T and Apple’s website are now in full iPhone 4 pre order mode. You can pre order your iPhone 4 from the AT&T website and now from the Apple website.

iPhone 4 Release Date is June 24th

After talking with several AT&T reps about the logistics of getting your new iPhone 4, it seems like if you order your iPhone 4 through AT&T’s website, then you will have to come into a local AT&T store to pick it up. However, if you order through the Apple website, then you can have the iPhone 4 delivered directly to your house, or chose in store pickup.

Does anyone else have more information about the exact logistics in how you will get your iPhone 4 on June 24th?

Hopefully we can get comments from people who have ordered from both AT&T and Apple by now.

I know for a fact that some people having been watching the AT&T website since midnight for the iPhone 4 pre order links to appear. These people have just been sitting there hitting F5….. F5…. F5….  And the same if true of the Apple Store webpage. I know this because I was one of those people until around 1am EST. But when I still didn’t see any links, I decided to hang it up and retire for the night.

It’s now 7am EST and I see the iPhone 4 pre order links on AT&T’s website, but the online Apple store is still under construction.

Visit AT&T’s online store to pre order iPhone 4

Visit Apple’s online store to see when iPhone 4 is ready

The “We’ll be back soon” post-it sticker has been the standard for Apple when they are rebuilding the store for a product launch. This means that a new product will be presented at Apple’s online store shortly.

And obviously, this new product that’s coming is the new iPhone 4 pre order.

Aside from pre ordering the iPhone 4 from AT&T’s website or from Apple’s online store, you can also pre order the iPhone 4 from Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Wal Mart. All of which should be available to you today for pre ordering the iPhone 4.

While talking with an AT&T representative today about the details on pre ordering the iPhone 4, the rep made a statement that really caught my attention. The statement made was this:

“If you pre order the iPhone 4 through the AT&T website, then the iPhone 4 will ship to the stores on or before June 24th.”

The before June 24th part of her statement really caught me off guard because much like all of you, I’ve been under the impression that the release date of the iPhone 4 would be June 24th, as stated in Steve Jobs’ keynote speech on the iPhone 4 announcement.

I wasn’t able to get the representative to clarify the on or before statement.

So if you pre order the iPhone 4 through the AT&T website, is it possible then to actually get the iPhone 4 before the “official” release date of June 24th?

Does anyone have any insight into this?

I’d have to also assume that if this is the case with pre ordering the iPhone 4 through the AT&T website, then it would also be true of pre ordering through the Apple Store website as well.

** UPDATE Juner 14th – Get a more detailed article on how to pre order iPhone 4.

As you probably already know, Apple has announced the new iPhone called iPhone 4. Actually, I’m very glad that Apple didn’t come out with a name like iPhone 4G, or something like that because that… well… would have been very misleading since the iPhone 4 is only running on 3G mobile web speed.

Nonetheless, the iPhone 4 is without a doubt the best iPhone to day because:

1. Larger screen
2. HD capable video recording
3. Zoom capable video recording
4. Multi tasking (once new OS 4 arrives)
5. 2 way video chatting

So the big questions have been – up to now – how do I get this new iPhone 4, how do I pre-order, how much is the new iPhone 4?

How do I pre order the iPhone 4?

The best, and more than the likely the only, way to pre-order your new iPhone 4 is directly from the Apple Store.

Visit the Apple Store here to pre order your iPhone 4.

Pre ordering begins on June 15th – that is next Tuesday (about 4 days from now).

If you visit the Apple Store right now, of course you don’t even see mention of the iPhone 4. But on Tuesday morning, more than like the Apple Store web page will be down and you’ll see a message that says something like “down for maintenance or updating”.

And then, out of nowhere, the Apple Store will come back online and you’ll see the big promotion for the iPhone 4, links to pre order, videos, the whole 9 yards.

That’s how I’m predicting it to go down anyway.

How do I purchase / how do I get the iPhone 4?

If you aren’t up to pre-ordering the iPhone 4 on Tuesday, June 15th, then you can always wait about a week and half until June 24th when the iPhone 4 will be available for purchase.

Now I don’t exactly if the iPhone 4 will be in AT&T stores on June 24th, or if it will only be in the Apple Store online.

My guess is that on June 24th, the iPhone 4 will in AT&T stores.

I noticed that AT&T’s website is already promoting the iPhone 4 saying that “the iPhone 4 is coming soon”.

You can even subscribe via email to get iPhone 4 updates and I’m assuming you’ll get notified by AT&T when the iPhone 4 is actually in stores.

How much for the new iPhone 4?

And last, but certainly not least – how much will the new iPhone 4 cost?

The pricing for the new iPhone 4 is pretty straight forward:

$199 for the 16GB model

$299 for the 32GB model

And as a bonus note:

If you are interested in receiving iPhone 4 updates from Apple directly, you can subscribe via email on Apple’s official iPhone 4 web page:

Get iPhone 4 updates from Apple via email here.

iPad 3G Release Date No Later Than May 3rd

My neighbor went into a local Apple store here in the metro Atlanta area to pre-ordered the iPad 3G.

While there, he thought of me (he knows what I do for a living and what kind of blog I have), so he decided to inquire about when the iPad 3G is expected to be released – or, he said he put it in terms of when could he expect to get the call from the store that the iPad 3G’s are now here and he can come pick his up.

What the Apple store said about iPad 3G release date:

The guy at the Apple store told my neighbor that he wouldn’t be surprised if the iPad 3G is available this up coming week.

So that would be sometime between Monday, April 19th – Friday, April 23rd.

But then the Apple store employee told my neighbor that the iPad 3G will be in their store, at the absolute latest, by Monday, May 3rd.

So no later than Monday, May 3rd will be the iPad 3G release date!

Earlier today I wrote about how the Apple store was down (offline).

Initially, I thought there was a problem with the Apple website, but then after digging around a bit, I realized this was common when Apple was about to release a new product.

The speculation was that perhaps we’d see an iPad 3G hit the Apple store website with a release date or a shipping date.

Or, the other alternatively was perhaps we’d see the iPhone 4G presented in the Apple Store.

None of the above actually….

The Apple Store was updated with the new MacBook Pro 2010 netbook.

The Apple Store is now back online and features not only the new MacBook Pro, but also the iPad and the new line up of iPods and iPod touches.

Check out The Apple Store here.

Apple Store Down – Macbook Pro Coming?

The Apple Store is down,

When I just visited The Apple Store https://www.apple.com/ I was greeted with the message:

This leads one to believe that we have a new product launch about to hit The Apple Store.

New MacBook Pro Rumors

There are rumors spreading like wildfire on the web about a new line of MacBook Pros that could be coming.

What is the date that the rumors are hinting at a possible release of MacBook Pros?

How about April 13th – which is today!

So for now, you can dig around the web and try to find out what Apple is up to.

If you find anything interesting about what might be coming to the Apple Store, please let us know in the comments.

Apple Store announcements

A couple of announcements people have been waiting from Apple, but unlikely we’ll see them in the Apple Store are:

iPhone 4G release date:

People have been anxiously awaiting the iPhone 4G to be announced from Apple.

iPhone / Verizon

Along with the iPhone 4G announcement, people have been wondering if / when we’ll see the iPhone sold at Verizon.

So those are 2 main “points of interest” currently buzzing around Apple.

And now, of course, we are waiting to see what will be featured at The Apple Store.

iPad Launch In New York City (Video)

This is by far the best video I’ve seen of the iPad launch. This iPad launch video is at the NYC Apple store and it shows masses of reporters and other people flooding in after the count down – and yes, the count down definitely helps the iPad launch mood.

Here’s the iPad launch at the NYC Apple store:

With today being the big day for the iPad Wifi edition, the big day of anticipation has finally arrived. Just think, it was only the end of February that we were watching Steve Jobs announce, and then demo, the new iPad device. And now that the release of the iPad is here (not the iPad 3G), what can we expect?

iPad Lines

One thing you can expect from the iPad is very long lines at the Apple retail stores. As it was with the release of the iPhone, lines stretching around corners and a frenzy of customers fighting to get their device, the same can be expected from the iPad.

Check out this video of an Apple store opening this morning to debut the new iPad:

Here’s a video of the wedding vows in the Apple store in New York:

Since the App Store launched in July 2008, that means every minute there has been more than 3000 downloads.  Now that’s a lot of downloading!

And also just today, Mashable reported that the iPhone has reached 100,000 approved apps.  However, as I tweeted about after reading the article, the 80/20 rule applies here.

80% of the approved apps will probably never reach more than a handful of iPhones, whereas 20% will be the dominant Apps in the marketplace.

Regardless, these are all impressive numbers that Apple is putting out regarding Apps, iPhones, iPods, and iTunes!

The ads point to a dead link at the Apple Store, and according to Google Translate they read:  “Apple’s Newest MacBook. Thinner, lighter and faster! Free delivery. Order today,” “The Brand new iMac. Ultra Thin 20 & 24 inch models. From only €1099 (roughly $1,063). Apple Store,” and “Apple’s New Mac mini. Faster and more affordable than ever. From only € 499 ($723). Order immediately.” [source:  Engadget]

Actually, it seems to make sense that Apple would be releasing new products – after all, isn’t that what a popular computer and tech company would be doing?

The “Nā Lei Hulu I Ka Wēkiu Dancers” are conducting hit and run hula dances at various locations throughout San Francisco, and someone caught them on video – of course at the Apple Store.  They seemed well received as the crowd was starting to get into the dancing and even cheered when they left: