Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple Watch Orders Will Remain Exclusively Online Through May, Deliveries Begin April 24
Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts issued an internal memo to retail employees on Thursday that helps eliminate some of the confusion surrounding the launch of the wrist-worn device. The memo, a roughly translated copy of which was obtained by iGen.fr, states that Apple Watch orders will continue to be taken exclusively online through May and that deliveries will begin April 24 as planned.
With no walk-in purchases of the Apple Watch available at Apple Stores until at least June, and product reservations for in-store pickup not available yet, it would appear that the Apple Watch's upcoming April 24 launch day could be quieter than usual. The long lines that typically accompany an iPhone launch, for example, could be a lot shorter than usual at many Apple retail stores around the world.
Fortunately, disappointed customers can rest assured that Apple's iconic lineups will not be going away forever. Ahrendts ensured in her memo to retail employees that not all Apple products will launch the same way as the Apple Watch, adding that both Apple and its customers love the long lines and that there will be many more of them to come in the future.
"The feedback from customers is overwhelmingly positive. They are excited about Apple Watch, and your teams are creating fantastic experiences for them. Customers who pre-ordered will start receiving deliveries next Friday as planned, and I know you will do a great job helping set them up.
Many of you have been asking if we will have the Apple Watch available in stores on April 24 for walk-in purchases. As we announced last week, due to high global interest combined with our initial supply, we are only taking orders online right now. I'll have more updates as we get closer to in-store availability, purpose we expect this to continue through the month of May."
With no walk-in purchases of the Apple Watch available at Apple Stores until at least June, and product reservations for in-store pickup not available yet, it would appear that the Apple Watch's upcoming April 24 launch day could be quieter than usual. The long lines that typically accompany an iPhone launch, for example, could be a lot shorter than usual at many Apple retail stores around the world.
Fortunately, disappointed customers can rest assured that Apple's iconic lineups will not be going away forever. Ahrendts ensured in her memo to retail employees that not all Apple products will launch the same way as the Apple Watch, adding that both Apple and its customers love the long lines and that there will be many more of them to come in the future.
"I know this is a different experience for our customers, and has changed for you as well. Are we going to launch every product this way from now on? No. We all love those blockbuster Apple product launch days and there will be many more to come. They're the times where you, our teams, shine. And our customers love them as well!"Likely to reflect that many customers will not be receiving their pre-orders by April 24, and that in-store availability on launch day, if any, will be very limited, Apple changed the tagline on its website on late Wednesday to read "the Watch is coming" instead of "available 4.24.15" as it previously showed. Apple Watch pre-orders began on April 10 at 12:01 AM Pacific and sold out in less than six hours.
Tags: Angela Ahrendts, memo
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Caution)
[ 248 comments ]
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
56 months ago
Get this woman out of Apple. She's in way over her head.
She's in charge of the retails stores not manufacturing or logistics.
Getting rid of her still wouldn't fix the lack of Apple Watches
56 months ago
Get this woman out of Apple. She's in way over her head.
I'm not following how this is Ahrendt's fault? She doesn't control the production of the device; if there were issues that delayed manufacturing and left them with less stock to work with, she's taking the only really logical choice available to her. This also shouldn't really be a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention; she stated before that they would be selling the Watch online only for the time-being, she's just now formally acknowledging that they definitively won't be selling the Watch to walk-ins on the 24th.
Frankly, I think this is a refreshing new transparency for Apple when it comes to a product launch that you don't see very often.
56 months ago
Get this woman out of Apple. She's in way over her head.
You mean "this woman" who was recruited from being a successful CEO of a fashion empire. Yes, she must be totally in way over her head launching a fashion-oriented product...
56 months ago
"This woman"? Wow, sexist much?
Not necessarily. The remark is clearly meant to be derogatory, but the fact that she's a woman is merely incidental. If it had been Brewett people would be calling for getting "that man" out of Apple. Not all derogatory remarks aimed towards women are sexist. Neither is calling a woman a 'woman' instead of by her name necessarily sexist.
56 months ago
It makes total sense not to have watches in store on the 24th. It would be a mess! Hundreds of people lined up all wanting different sizes, styles, bands, etc. it would be a complete disaster! Especially since it's a totally new product category that apple isn't used to. people might be mad now, but not as mad as u would be if u stood in line all night only to walk away from the store without a watch at all. There would literally be technerd riots all over the world. I think it was a really smart decision at this point.
56 months ago
I'm hearing some bad news .. http://www.businessinsider.com/angela-ahrendts-memo-on-the-apple-watch-launch-2015-4
The bad news is that you actually linked to a business insider click bait article
56 months ago
Get this woman out of Apple. She's in way over her head.
"This woman"? Wow, sexist much? What does her gender have to do with anything? And if they don't have enough supply to stock stores right now how is that her fault?
56 months ago
"This woman"? Wow, sexist much? What does her gender have to do with anything? And if they don't have enough supply to stock stores right now how is that her fault?
That doesn't mean it was intended to be sexist. People say get that guy out of there too when it's a man.
56 months ago
Get this woman out of Apple. She's in way over her head.
Nice bit of mild sexism there.
Shops are a thing of the past. Order it on your phone.
[ Read All Comments ]
Tennessee State University last week launched the HBCU C2 Presidential Academy, a new initiative that's designed to expose students of color to coding and app development, reports The...
Apple has asked the Trump administration to exclude components for the new Mac Pro and various accessories like the Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad from being subject to a 25 percent tariff on Chinese...
Apple Maps vehicles will begin surveying Germany next week, through mid-September, according to the Frankfurter Allgemeine.
The data collected, such as road details, signage, and landmarks,...
Since its introduction with iOS 7, AirDrop has become the favored means for iPhone and iPad users to instantly share photos, videos, documents, and more to nearby Apple devices over Wi-Fi and...
Twelve South today launched a new product called the "StayGo," which is a portable hub that connects to USB-C MacBooks and MacBook Pros.
Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with...
The team behind Pixelmator Pro today released a major update for the photo editing app, introducing useful new capabilities that make it easier than ever to edit your photos.
There's now a...
Television maker LG says that updates will soon arrive that make HomeKit and AirPlay 2 available on supported TVs.
LG's Australian support account on Twitter responded to a customer query...
Alongside the launch of iOS 12.4, Apple today released new versions of iOS 9.3.6 and iOS 10.3.4 for older iPhones and iPads that aren't able to run iOS 12.4.
The iOS 9.3.6 update is...
