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Apple Preparing In-Store Pickup Option for Apple Watch

Wednesday May 6, 2015 8:46 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Apple is preparing to offer an in-store pickup option for the Apple Watch in the United States and other launch countries, listing the option as "available soon" on the Apple Online Store and Apple Store app. The new option remains grayed out on Apple's website and app, making it unavailable to select, and Apple's Reserve and Pickup system for the Apple Watch has yet to go live.

To date, Apple Watch orders have been taken exclusively online and shipped via UPS or other couriers to residential or business addresses, but soon customers will gain the option of ordering online and visiting a local Apple retail location for in-store pickup. Customers will be required to present a valid government-issued photo ID upon pickup, and must match the name on the reservation to pick up the product.

Pick up in store Apple Watch
Apple originally planned to offer in-store pickup of the Apple Watch as early as April 24, although later decided to take orders exclusively online and ship to home, possibly due to limited supply resulting from faulty Taptic Engines. When in-store pickup for the Apple Watch becomes available, customers will be able to select a nearby Apple Store location of their choice to pick up the product.

Related Roundups: Apple Watch, watchOS 5
Tag: Reserve and Pickup
Buyer's Guide: Apple Watch (Buy Now)
[ 126 comments ]


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ctc799
44 months ago
I hope they'll manage to fill my pre-order first.
Rating: 39 Votes
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chicagofan00
44 months ago
I think they need to get the current online orders closer to shipping other than "July" before offering any kind of in-store pickup. I'd be annoyed if I was one of the ones who ordered on the 10th or not long after and still haven't received the watch yet those that order now could get the watch that day or within a couple of days.
Rating: 15 Votes
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Small White Car
44 months ago
Boy, a LOT of you are mis-reading this.


It's not saying they'll just be available in stores and the pre-order people get screwed.

It's saying that "in store" will soon be an additional option to "UPS" when you order online. So the people buying online soon for July watches will be able to choose how they get their watch. That doesn't move them ahead of the June people.
Rating: 14 Votes
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AngerDanger
44 months ago

I hope they'll manage to fill my pre-order first.


I think I speak for most people here when I say that we're all hoping they fill your pre-order first. :p
Rating: 12 Votes
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jacobh101
44 months ago
Apple pushing people to not purchase in-store is mind boggling to me. Why have a brick and mortar store?!

Step 1. Come to store, try on watch
Step 2. Go home
Step 3. Conveniently purchase from the comfort of your own home
Step 4. Come back to store and pickup watch several weeks later
Step 5. Go home and enjoy :apple:Watch

Or how about go to store, buy watch, & take home with you.
Rating: 11 Votes
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TheRealTVGuy
44 months ago
I hope they don't offer it until most of the pre-orders have been delivered, or at least let those folks change to the in-store option.

If not I would imagine there would be a lot of grumpy pre-order people out there. We're already seeing that from folks who can't make it to Maxfield's in CA.
Rating: 7 Votes
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Col4bin
44 months ago
Has anyone actually seen a person wearing an Apple Watch in the wild yet? I work for a global Fortune 500 company with a very large contingent of Apple loving designers, engineers and marketers from all walks of life, and I've yet to see anyone wearing one.

Yet when a new iPhone model is released, these same people seemingly have one immediately post-launch.

Strange... :confused:
Rating: 5 Votes
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pbush25
44 months ago
Oh hell no. If they allow this before I get my Watch that I pre-ordered and have been waiting weeks for, I'm going to be one angry customer.
Rating: 5 Votes
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avalys
44 months ago

Apple pushing people to not purchase in-store is mind boggling to me. Why have a brick and mortar store?!

Step 1. Come to store, try on watch
Step 2. Go home
Step 3. Conveniently purchase from the comfort of your own home
Step 4. Come back to store and pickup watch several weeks later
Step 5. Go home and enjoy :apple:Watch

Or how about go to store, buy watch, & take home with you.

I don't know why people are still acting as if Apple wanted to do this. They had no choice. They didn't have enough Watches to sell them in stores. They would've been sold out within minutes, no one would have gotten the one they wanted, people would have been bitching and moaning even more than they are already, that they camped out all night and waited in line for hours and Apple didn't even have any stock of the model they wanted (e.g. 42mm stainless w/ link band).

They probably had a pre-existing agreement with a few high-end retail stores around the world that they could not change, e.g. Maxfield's, but this was not how they wanted the release to go. I'm sure Apple would have greatly preferred a normal release, with plenty of stock and availability in retail stores on day 1. They had no choice.
Rating: 5 Votes
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2457282
44 months ago

I hope they'll manage to fill my pre-order first.


I am starting to think I will be able to walk in and buy the damn watch before they ship the ones I ordered last month. So not doing well with the whole patience as a virtue thing right now. :D
Rating: 5 Votes

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