After a decade-long search, Apple is believed to be in the final stages of negotiating a deal to open a new AU$50 million flagship retail store in Melbourne's iconic Federation Square, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.

federation-square-melbourne

Federation Square in Melbourne, Australia (Image: Architecter)

Apple has reportedly been in lengthy and secretive negotiations with Federation Square's management and the Victoria state government to demolish the Yarra building in the square and replace it with a standalone, glass retail store. No timeline was provided, but a grand opening would likely remain years away.

Federation Square is a government-owned public space home to, among others, public broadcaster SBS and the Australian Centre for Moving Image. The 344,445-square-foot postmodern development, opened in 2002, is primely located in Melbourne's central business district in the inner city.

Apple has three existing stores in the Melbourne area, but they are located in shopping malls in the suburbs of Chadstone, Doncaster, and Southland.

apple_liverpool

Apple's new next-generation store in Liverpool, England

Meanwhile, in related news, Apple is slated to reopen two more next-generation stores on Saturday, November 19 at 10:00 a.m. local time at the Penn Square shopping mall in Oklahoma City and at the Westfield Montgomery shopping mall in Bethesda, Maryland, a suburb in the Washington D.C. area.

Apple's new retail layout often includes wide, open spaces with some combination of large glass doors, indoor trees, touch-sensitive sequoia wood tables and shelves for displaying products, large 6K resolution video screens for marketing and events, and light boxes extending the length of the ceiling.

Apple recently opened three other next-generation stores in Edison, New Jersey and Liverpool and Sheffield in England.

Top Rated Comments

OziMac Avatar
116 months ago

Apple has three existing stores in the Melbourne area, but they are located in shopping malls in the suburbs of Chadstone, Doncaster, and Southland.
Original article in SMH / The Age is wrong - there are five stores in Melbourne, with Highpoint and Fountain Gate, and all of them are heaving beyond capacity. This store (with whatever legitimate obstacles may be in its way) and several more in the suburbs can't come soon enough.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Spink10 Avatar
116 months ago
OKC - we made the news!
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
locksmack Avatar
116 months ago
It's about time. Seriously having to venture 30 mins from the CBD to get to the closest Apple Store is painful! They need one in the CBD and another in the north.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Brandhouse Avatar
116 months ago
Not the sort of news that MyMac wants to read, who are opposite Fed Square.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 26

Everything New in iOS 26.1 Beta 1

Monday September 22, 2025 12:44 pm PDT by
Apple released the first beta of iOS 26.1 today, just a week after launching iOS 26. iOS 26.1 mainly adds new languages to Apple Intelligence, but there are a few other features that are worth knowing about. New Apple Intelligence Languages Apple Intelligence is now available in Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. AirPo...
apple tv 4k new orange

Next Apple TV Expected to Launch This Year With These New Features

Monday September 22, 2025 10:00 am PDT by
The next Apple TV is expected to be released later this year, and a handful of new features and changes have been rumored for the device. Below, we recap what to expect from the next Apple TV, according to rumors. Likely Features N1 Chip With Wi-Fi 7 Last year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said the next Apple TV would be equipped with Apple's own combined Wi-Fi and Bluetooth chip, which is...
Apple Intelligence General Feature 2

iOS 26.1 Adds New Apple Intelligence Languages and Expands AirPods Live Translation

Monday September 22, 2025 11:15 am PDT by
With iOS 26.1, Apple Intelligence is gaining support for additional languages, including Danish, Dutch, Norwegian, Portuguese (Portugal), Swedish, Turkish, Chinese (Traditional), and Vietnamese. Apple announced plans to expand the languages that can be used with Apple Intelligence last year, and now the added language support is here. Apple Intelligence is now available in the following...
Apple Foldable Thumb

Foldable iPhone Like 'Two Titanium iPhone Airs' Joined at the Hinge

Monday September 22, 2025 2:16 am PDT by
Next year's rumored foldable iPhone will showcase an ultra-thin design resembling "two titanium iPhone Airs side-by-side," according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman says Apple's first foldable device will be "super thin and a design achievement," combining Apple's thinnest iPhone form factor with cutting-edge folding...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air N1 Feature

Some iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air Users Experiencing Intermittent Wi-Fi Issue

Monday September 22, 2025 8:44 am PDT by
Apple's latest iPhone models launched on Friday, and some early adopters of the devices are experiencing intermittent Wi-Fi issues. Affected customers say Wi-Fi connectivity periodically cuts out on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air, with hundreds of comments about the issue posted across the MacRumors Forums, Reddit, and the Apple Support Community over the...
iPhone 17 Pro and Air Feature

Two iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air Colors Appear to Scratch More Easily

Friday September 19, 2025 10:02 am PDT by
As reported by Bloomberg today, some of the new iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone Air models on display at Apple Stores today are already scratched and scuffed. French blog Consomac also reported on this topic. The scratches appear to be most prominent on models with darker finishes, including the iPhone 17 Pro and Pro Max in Deep Blue, and the iPhone Air in Space Black. Images Credit: Consoma ...
iPhone 17 Pro USB C Port

iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C Charging Speeds Tested With Apple Chargers

Monday September 22, 2025 7:29 am PDT by
The website ChargerLAB has tested the iPhone 17 Pro Max's USB-C charging speeds with a variety of Apple's chargers, from 18W to 140W. The device reached a peak charging speed of around 36W with the following Apple chargers:40W Dynamic Power Adapter with 60W Max 61W USB-C Power Adapter 67W USB-C Power Adapter 70W USB-C Power Adapter 96W USB-C Power Adapter 140W USB-C Power AdapterFor...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds First Betas of iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1

Monday September 22, 2025 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with the first betas of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The new betas are the first updates to the iOS, iPadOS, macOS 26, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS releases that came out last week. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going...