Revisit Apple's First Store in 3D With This Awesome New Mac App

Apple Store enthusiast and creative extraordinaire Michael Steeber today announced the launch of The Apple Store Time Machine, a new interactive Mac app that lets you "travel back in time" and revisit four iconic Apple Stores on their grand opening days.

Apple Store Tysons Corner Time Machine
"The Apple Store Time Machine is a celebration of the places and products that have shaped our lives for more than twenty years," said Steeber, who spent hundreds of hours researching, designing, and developing the project. "This interactive experience recreates memorable moments in Apple history with painstaking detail and historical accuracy."

The app is free to download and runs on Apple silicon Macs and recent Intel-based Macs. There is an option to make a donation on the project's website. Michael's brother Robert Steeber was also involved with the project, creating music and UI sounds.

Apple Fifth Avenue Time Machine
The four Apple Store locations that the app allows you to experience are Apple Tysons Corner in Virginia circa 2001, Apple Stanford Shopping Center in California circa 2004, Apple Fifth Avenue in New York circa 2006, and Apple Infinite Loop in California circa 2015. All four stores include easter eggs such as iPhone and Mac commercials, interactive Mac apps like GarageBand and Photo Booth, a ringing phone at the original Genius Bar, and more.

The app is similar to a video game or a simulator, complete with keyboard controls for moving around stores, but Steeber prefers to describe the app as an experience. However you view it, it's clear that Steeber put a tremendous amount of effort into this project, with every detail accounted for, down to the last iPod and box of software.

For more Apple Store coverage, subscribe to Steeber's newsletter "Tabletops."

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17 Pro Launching in Three Months With These 12 New Features

Saturday June 14, 2025 5:45 pm PDT by
The iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max are three months away, and there are plenty of rumors about the devices. Below, we recap key changes rumored for the iPhone 17 Pro models as of June 2025:Aluminum frame: iPhone 17 Pro models are rumored to have an aluminum frame, whereas the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro models have a titanium frame, and the iPhone X through iPhone 14 Pro have a...
apple watch ultra 2 new black

Apple Watch Ultra 3 Finally Coming After Two-Year Hiatus

Monday June 16, 2025 8:45 am PDT by
Apple will finally deliver the Apple Watch Ultra 3 sometime this year, according to analyst Jeff Pu of GF Securities Hong Kong (via @jukanlosreve). The analyst expects both the Apple Watch Series 11 and Apple Watch Ultra 3 to arrive this year (likely alongside the new iPhone 17 lineup, if previous launches are anything to go by), according to his latest product roadmap shared with...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
terminal macos tahoe

Apple's Terminal App Gets Colorful Redesign in macOS Tahoe

Monday June 16, 2025 4:12 am PDT by
Apple's Terminal app is getting a visual refresh in macOS Tahoe, and it's the first notable design update since the command-line tool debuted. The updated Terminal will support 24-bit color and Powerline fonts, according to Apple's State of the Platforms presentation at WWDC25. The app will also adopt the new Liquid Glass aesthetic with redesigned themes that align with macOS 26's broader...
iOS 26 Feature

Apple Seeds Revised iOS 26 Developer Beta to Fix Battery Issue

Friday June 13, 2025 10:15 am PDT by
Apple today provided developers with a revised version of the first iOS 26 beta for testing purposes. The update is only available for the iPhone 15 and iPhone 16 models, so if you're running iOS 26 on an iPhone 14 or earlier, you won't see the revised beta. Registered developers can download the new beta software through the Settings app on each device. The revised beta addresses an...

Top Rated Comments

alexandr Avatar
38 months ago
Awww. I was at the opening of the 5th ave store... Even snapped a picture of Steve and his wife as they unexpectedly exited out of the FAO Shwarz next door... :)



Attachment Image
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JayAgostino Avatar
38 months ago
This is the most positive comments section I’ve ever seen on MacRumors.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Fusionskies Avatar
38 months ago
I don't often comment, but this is the coolest thing I have seen for a long time. Really well done, will be looking to support.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
OriginalClone Avatar
38 months ago
I miss the old Genius Bar
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TheYayAreaLiving ?️ Avatar
38 months ago
Nostalgia just kicked in. This is so cool and unique! Thank you.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
darngooddesign Avatar
38 months ago

Back when Apple Stores were a joy to go to. Back before AA & Timmy completely demolished what made them so special.....
Once you get past the novelty of early Apple Stores, they are basically the same now but with the obsolete parts, like physical software boxes and iPod speaker docks, removed. And I have plenty of emotional/nostalgic affection for 2007-era Apple Stores as my wife and I met in one and we go back to that store each year on our anniversary.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)