Apple Opens the Doors at its MacArthur Chambers Store in Brisbane, Australia

Apple's long-awaited store in Brisbane, Australia finally opened its doors to customers today. The flagship store was announced in 2011, but problems with contractors and the historical nature of the site delayed completion.

brisbane-outside
Customers started waiting in line almost 15 hours before the store was schedule to open its doors at 10 AM local time, with many hoping to score one of the limited edition Brisbane store T-shirts that were handed out. The dedicated fans were allowed in by exuberant store employees who greeted them with high-fives and cheers. Store leader Jonny Walker told PerthNow that he is proud of what Apple has done with the historic site.

"We are so proud of this store at Apple, it's got a stunning space now and we're really extremely proud to call it our home. When we took over the store a lot of the original historic elements were missing or in disrepair. What we've done is we've painstakingly restored it to its original glory."

brisbane-inside
The store is located within the impressive MacArthur Chambers building, which was General Douglas MacArthur's South West Pacific headquarters for the Allies during World War II. The new retail space occupies the entire bottom floor of the building. It includes 200 display units and is staffed by over 100 employees, says a report by Brisbane Times, which toured the location before it opened.

(Thanks, David!)

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Launching Later This Year With These 12 New Features

Thursday January 15, 2026 10:56 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are not expected to launch for another eight months, there are already plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we have recapped 12 features rumored for the iPhone 18 Pro models, as of January 2026: The same overall design is expected, with 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes, and a "plateau" housing three rear cameras Under-screen Face ID...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

New Leak Reveals iPhone 18 Pro Display Sizes, Under-Screen Face ID, and More

Wednesday January 14, 2026 7:09 am PST by
While the iPhone 18 Pro models are still around eight months away, a leaker has shared some alleged details about the devices. In a post on Chinese social media platform Weibo this week, the account Digital Chat Station said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have the same 6.3-inch and 6.9-inch display sizes as the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max. Consistent with previous...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, Macs, and More

Thursday January 15, 2026 11:19 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the United States, according to the company's website. Most of the values declined slightly, but some of the Mac values increased. iPhone ...
Verizon New

Verizon Offering $20 Credit After Major Outage, Here's How to Get It

Thursday January 15, 2026 7:37 am PST by
Verizon today announced it will be offering customers a $20 account credit after a major outage on Wednesday, and action is required to receive it. The carrier said affected customers can accept the credit by logging into the My Verizon app, but it might take some time before this option shows up in the app. Affected customers will receive a text message when the credit is available. On...
Apple MacBook Pro M4 hero

These 5 Apple Products Will Reportedly Be Upgraded With OLED Displays

Friday January 16, 2026 7:07 pm PST by
Apple plans to upgrade the iPad mini, MacBook Pro, iPad Air, iMac, and MacBook Air with OLED displays between 2026 and 2028, according to DigiTimes. Bloomberg's Mark Gurman previously reported that the iPad mini and MacBook Pro will receive an OLED display as early as this year, but he does not expect the MacBook Air to adopt the technology until 2028 at the earliest. A new iPad Air is...

Top Rated Comments

Sure, Not Avatar
157 months ago
I love historic Apple Stores.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dilbert99 Avatar
157 months ago
Yay!! I got an image published

Not my best images but published none the less, and a mention :)

I did think the store looked nice (perhaps a bit clinical), but not as nice as some of the other Apple stores I've seen on here...

David
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Steeley Avatar
157 months ago
Certainly looks nice. I wonder if they have any pics from before the restoration?

There are some out there of the previous tenant that'll give you an idea of what it looked like before. Mind you when the book store left it was rented out to fly-by-night bargain basement retailers for a while, but they didn't change anything from the book store they were just very messy. Note the tacky air conditioning pipes and gold detailing!

Pics courtesy of Skyscraper City (http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1368979&page=26) (found them with google image search)





Note in this last image the placement of the trees and the garden:

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
wikiverse Avatar
157 months ago
And people say the high street is dying? Pfft. Just do it like Apple.

The high street isn't dying in Brisbane and Apple are a bit late to the party. They would have been late even if the store opened in 2011.

The new store is across the street from Louis Vuitton, Tiffany's, Chanel, Hugo Boss, and scotch & soda.

I'm sure apple will do well here.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TyPod Avatar
157 months ago
Really cool looking store. I wish the Apple Store's by me actually looked cool and historic like this one!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ksnell Avatar
157 months ago
Anyone else notice the Apple camera guy in the second photo? I guess we will be seeing this again in the next Apple Keynote.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)