Apple Store Will Go Down Soon, But Don't Get Too Excited

Today and into tomorrow, Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis. However, while that sometimes signals that new products are incoming, do not get your hopes up this time around.

apple store down
Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer with the purchase of select products. As of writing, the store already went down and came back online in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and the gift card offer is now live there. No other surprises.

Every year around this time, we receive many emails from readers alerting us about the store going down, so hopefully this helps to clear up the situation ahead of it going down across Europe, the U.S., and Canada soon.

In case you missed the earlier announcement, Apple is offering a free gift card with the purchase of an eligible product in select countries, from November 29 through December 2. In the U.S., the gift card values range between $25 and $200.

Black Friday is one of the few occasions per year when Apple directly offers deals on its products, but better deals are often available through resellers like Amazon, so make sure to check out our Black Friday deals coverage for the latest discounts on iPads, Macs, AirPods, Apple Watches, accessories, and more.

Related Forum: Community Discussion

Popular Stories

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 ...
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 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...
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...
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...
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...
iOS 26

iOS 26.0.1 Coming Soon, Likely With iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro Fix

Thursday September 18, 2025 9:17 am PDT by
Apple is preparing to release iOS 26.0.1, according to a private account on X with a proven track record of sharing information about future iOS versions. The update will have a build number of 23A350, or similar, the account said. It is likely that iOS 26.0.1 will fix a camera-related bug on the new iPhone Air and iPhone 17 Pro models. In his iPhone Air review, CNN Underscored's Henry T. ...

Top Rated Comments

Rayansb Avatar
11 months ago
Too late I'm already excited.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
John_Blackthorne Avatar
11 months ago
I love how they take the store down to promote their $10.00 off discounts and free AirPods 1 Black Friday "deals."
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
switz Avatar
11 months ago
Rather a lame thing to offer (gift card) as it can only be used to buy Apple stuff. Apple got your cash.

All the third part vendors are offering cash discounts which means there is more money in the buyer's pocket.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
lovehateapple Avatar
11 months ago
Doesn't look like there's any BF sales on the Vision Pro. Apple might have been able to sell one or two more if they had a sale on them...
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Doug_in_the_UK Avatar
11 months ago

('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/28/heres-why-apple-store-is-going-down/')

Today and into tomorrow, Apple's online store is going down for a few hours on a rolling country-by-country basis. However, while that sometimes signals that new products are incoming, do not get your hopes up this time around.



Apple takes its online store down for a few hours ahead of Black Friday every year to tease/prepare for its annual gift card offer ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/21/apple-announces-2024-black-friday-event/') with the purchase of select products. As of writing, the store already went down and came back online in countries such as Australia and New Zealand, and the gift card offer is now ('https://www.apple.com/au/shop/gifts/shopping-event') live ('https://www.apple.com/nz/shop/gifts/shopping-event') there. No other surprises.

Every year around this time, we receive many emails from readers alerting us about the store going down, so hopefully this helps to clear up the situation ahead of it going down across Europe, the U.S., and Canada soon.

In case you missed the earlier announcement, Apple is offering a free gift card with the purchase of an eligible product in select countries, from November 29 through December 2. In the U.S., the gift card values range between $25 and $200 ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/21/apple-announces-2024-black-friday-event/').

Black Friday is one of the few occasions per year when Apple directly offers deals on its products, but better deals are often available through resellers like Amazon, so make sure to check out our Black Friday deals coverage ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/22/apple-black-friday-deals-now-2024/') for the latest discounts on iPads, Macs, AirPods, Apple Watches, accessories, and more.

Article Link: Apple Store Will Go Down Soon, But Don't Get Too Excited ('https://www.macrumors.com/2024/11/28/heres-why-apple-store-is-going-down/')
A gift card. Wow! I'd rather have money off Apple's overpriced products - or, at least free AppleCare thrown in with a MacMini or Studio Display.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
RedWeasel Avatar
11 months ago
I sometimes still wonder if they take the store down artificially just to create excitement or if they really have to take it down for every minor change for to technical reasons.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)