Apple is continuing to press forward with new retail store openings this week, working toward making good on plans to open over 30 new stores during the third quarter of this year.
Apple's Stratford City retail store in London (Thanks, Luke!)
One unusual store opening will take place tomorrow as the Stratford City store opens up in the new Westfield Stratford City shopping center in the northeastern portion of London. The rare mid-week opening for Apple coincides with the grand opening day for the mall itself, a nearly 2 million square foot facility that will be the largest urban shopping center in Europe and serve as a key component of London's plans for hosting next year's Summer Olympics.
Apple's Jungfernstieg retail store in Hamburg (Source: Macerkopf.de)
Apple will also be opening its new Jungfernstieg store in Hamburg, Germany this Saturday. The store will be Apple's seventh German store and second in the city, joining the existing Alstertal store a few miles away.
Apple's Nanjing East retail store in Shanghai
Finally, M.I.C gadget reports that Apple is getting close to an opening for its massive new Nanjing Road store in Shanghai, adding the company's "curtain opening" promotional signage that frequently appears at flagship store locations as the final touches are put on the new stores. The new Nanjing East location will span five levels, with the first floor devoted to product demos and sales and the second floor dedicated to Genius Bar and customer training activities. Portions of the third floor will offer support for business customers, with the remainder of the facility serving as offices for Apple's operations in the region.
Monday December 1, 2025 4:37 pm PST by Juli Clover
We're getting closer to the launch of the final major iOS update of the year, with Apple set to release iOS 26.2 in December. We've had three betas so far and are expecting a fourth beta or a release candidate this week, so a launch could follow as soon as next week.
Past Launch Dates
Apple's past iOS x.2 updates from the last few years have all happened right around the middle of the...
Tuesday December 2, 2025 11:09 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple is encouraging iPhone users who are still running iOS 18 to upgrade to iOS 26 by making the iOS 26 software upgrade option more prominent.
Since iOS 26 launched in September, it has been displayed as an optional upgrade at the bottom of the Software Update interface in the Settings app. iOS 18 has been the default operating system option, and users running iOS 18 have seen iOS 18...
Monday December 1, 2025 3:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is expected to launch a new foldable iPhone next year, based on multiple rumors and credible sources. The long-awaited device has been rumored for years now, but signs increasingly suggest that 2026 could indeed be the year that Apple releases its first foldable device.
Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
Below, we've collated an updated set of key details that ...
Wednesday December 3, 2025 10:33 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 updates to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming two weeks after Apple seeded the third betas. The release candidates represent the final versions of iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found during this final week of testing....
Tuesday December 2, 2025 9:44 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple's iPhone 17 lineup is selling well enough that Apple is on track to ship more than 247.4 million total iPhones in 2025, according to a new report from IDC.
Total 2025 shipments are forecast to grow 6.1 percent year over year due to iPhone 17 demand and increased sales in China, a major market for Apple.
Overall worldwide smartphone shipments across Android and iOS are forecast to...
Thursday December 4, 2025 9:30 am PST by Joe Rossignol
In a statement shared with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Apple confirmed that its software design chief Alan Dye will be leaving. Apple said Dye will be succeeded by Stephen Lemay, who has been a software designer at the company since 1999.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Dye will lead a new creative studio within the company's AR/VR division Reality Labs.
On his blog Daring Fireball,...
Monday December 1, 2025 5:00 am PST by Tim Hardwick
2026 could be a bumper year for Apple's Mac lineup, with the company expected to announce as many as four separate MacBook launches. Rumors suggest Apple will court both ends of the consumer spectrum, with more affordable options for students and feature-rich premium lines for users that seek the highest specifications from a laptop.
Below is a breakdown of what we're expecting over the next ...
The iPhone Air has recorded the steepest early resale value drop of any iPhone model in years, with new data showing that several configurations have lost almost 50% of their value within ten weeks of launch.
According to a ten-week analysis published by SellCell, Apple's latest lineup is showing a pronounced split in resale performance between the iPhone 17 models and the iPhone Air....
Thursday December 4, 2025 5:18 am PST by Tim Hardwick
iPhone 17 Pro models, it turns out, can't take photos in Night mode when Portrait mode is selected in the Camera app – a capability that's been available on Apple's Pro devices since the iPhone 12 Pro in 2020.
If you're an iPhone 17 Pro or iPhone 17 Pro Max owner, try it for yourself: Open the Camera app with Photo selected in the carousel, then cover the rear lenses with your hand to...
Tuesday December 2, 2025 3:30 pm PST by Juli Clover
OpenAI is deprioritizing work on advertising as it focuses on improving the quality of ChatGPT, reports The Information. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman declared a "code red" on Monday, and told employees that the company needs to improve ChatGPT so it doesn't fall behind competitors like Google and Anthropic.
Altman said that OpenAI needs to work on personalization for each user, image generation,...
I think this is part of what people clamouring for a store in their city fail to grasp. Apple demand many things to open a store. One is a large enough population. Two is that the population is affluent enough. Three is a premium/upscale mall with a vacant space of the correct size.
Toronto, Canada has like 7 Apple Stores, and they continue to open more here. The GTA area only has 5 million people.
I have not seen any reference to this store, and can't see anything on that website.
There is however an Apple Store opening in Braehead Shopping Centre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braehead#Braehead_Shopping_Centre) this month (reportedly (http://www.heraldscotland.com/apple-to-open-new-west-of-scotland-store-at-braehead-1.1087127)). The third store in Scotland.
I'll second that, when I was last over at Braehead the store front was blacked out with the big white :apple: logo stuck on front and centre, so I would imagine it was fairly imminent.
Its where the Gap store was on the ground floor.
I also cant turn up any evidence of an East Kilbride store other than it was rumoured prior to the Braehead one becoming public knowledge; I dare say it was a rumoured likely site and Braehead won out in the end.
For Info, not sure if it's already been posted, there's one opening in East Kilbride shopping centre, seen it the other day. http://www.shopek.co.uk/
Cheers, J
I have not seen any reference to this store, and can't see anything on that website.
There is however an Apple Store opening in Braehead Shopping Centre (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braehead#Braehead_Shopping_Centre) this month (reportedly (http://www.heraldscotland.com/apple-to-open-new-west-of-scotland-store-at-braehead-1.1087127)). The third store in Scotland.
Rumor has it that the Hugendubel Book Store that is shutting down on Tauentzienstraße 13 across from the memorial church on Ku'Damm is going to be turned into an Apple store :) The truth of the matter is that German urban planners, especially in Berlin, have unbelievably strict restrictions and regulations when it comes to building new structures in the city, and it's unclear whether a bright white store with tons of glass is very "fitting" for this particular area of the Berliner cityscape. So, don't hold your breath, but if there is one I'm pretty sure that's where it'll be.
First read concrete info about the Berlin Apple Store in January. Apparently it's on Ku'damm 26, which is an old cinema building...
