Apple Store Coming to Saudi Arabia Both Online and In Person

Apple today announced that its online store will launch in Saudi Arabia in summer 2025. The online store will allow customers in the country to order Apple's full range of products directly from the company for the first time.

2024 iPhone Boxes
Apple also said that it plans to open several flagship retail stores in Saudi Arabia starting in 2026. One of the stores will be in Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site located just on the outskirts of Riyadh, the capital city of Saudi Arabia.

"We're excited to be expanding here in Saudi Arabia with the launch of the Apple Store online next year, and the first of several flagship Apple Store locations starting in 2026, including an iconic store at the stunning site of Diriyah coming later," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Saudi Arabia already has hundreds of Apple Authorized Reseller locations, but this will be Apple's first direct retail presence in the country.

Apple also announced that it will be opening a new store in the United Arab Emirates city of Al Ain next year, expanding its retail presence there. Apple has four other stores in the country, and its online store launched there in 2011.

In both of the press releases, Apple touted its various commitments and ongoing investments in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

Cook spent the past few days in the United Arab Emirates, per his social media posts. He met with app developers, watched a Formula 1 race, and more.

Cook also visited a women's developer academy in Riyadh.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Changes Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday January 16, 2025 6:45 am PST by
Apple today adjusted estimated trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models in the U.S., according to its website. Some values increased, while others decreased. The changes were not too significant, with most values rising or dropping by $5 to $50. We have outlined some examples below: Device New Value Old Value iPhone 15 Pro Max Up to $630 U ...
Generic iOS 19 Feature Mock Light

iOS 19 Leak Reveals All-New Design

Friday January 17, 2025 2:42 pm PST by
iOS 19 is still around six months away from being announced, but a new leak has allegedly revealed a completely redesigned Camera app. Based on footage it obtained, YouTube channel Front Page Tech shared a video showing what the new Camera app will apparently look like, with the key change being translucent menus for camera controls. Overall, the design of these menus looks similar to...
Generic iOS 18

Everything New in iOS 18.3 Beta 3

Thursday January 16, 2025 12:39 pm PST by
Apple provided the third beta of iOS 18.3 to developers today, and while the betas have so far been light on new features, the third beta makes some major changes to Notification Summaries and also tweaks a few other features. Notification Summary Changes Apple made multiple changes to Notification Summaries in response to complaints about inaccurate summaries of news headlines. For...
2024 App Store Awards

Apple Explains Why It Removed TikTok From the App Store in the U.S.

Sunday January 19, 2025 6:58 am PST by
Apple on late Saturday removed TikTok from the App Store in the U.S., and it has now explained why it was required to take this action. Last year, the U.S. passed a law that required Chinese company ByteDance to divest its ownership of TikTok due to potential national security risks, or else the platform would be banned. That law went into effect today, and companies like Apple and Google...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Launching Later This Year With These 10 New Features

Wednesday January 15, 2025 7:16 am PST by
While the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" is not expected to launch until September, there are already plenty of rumors about the "ultra-thin" device. Overall, the "iPhone 17 Air" is shaping up to be a mixed bag. Due to its thinness, the device is expected to have some limited specifications compared to the iPhone 17 Pro models, including only a single rear camera, only a single speaker, no SIM...
iPad Pro vs iPhone 17 Air Feature

Here's How Thin the iPhone 17 Air Might Be

Friday January 17, 2025 3:38 pm PST by
For the last several months, we've been hearing rumors about a redesigned version of the iPhone 17 that Apple might call the iPhone 17 "Air," or something along those lines. It's going to replace the iPhone 17 Plus as Apple's fourth iPhone option, and it will be offered alongside the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max. We know the iPhone 17 Air is going to be super slim, but...
iPhone 17 Pro Dual Tone Horizontal Single Feature

iPhone 17 Rumored to Feature Major Thermal Design Upgrade

Friday January 17, 2025 4:33 am PST by
The iPhone 17 lineup will feature a vapor chamber heatsink to improve thermal performance, according to a new report. The news comes from Chinese tech news site MyDrivers, which claims that the entire iPhone 17 lineup, consisting of the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Air, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone 17 Pro Max, will adopt the improved thermal heat spreader. Vapor chamber technology is already used...
HomePod mini and Apple TV

Apple Expected to Launch 20+ Products This Year: Here's the Full List

Friday January 17, 2025 5:30 am PST by
2025 promises to be quite a big year for Apple, with the company rumored to be planning more than 20 product announcements this year. Apple's rumored smart home hub will be its second all-new product to launch in as many years, following the Apple Vision Pro headset last year. And of course, we will get several new iPhone and Apple Watch models, like every year. Beyond that, Apple could...

Top Rated Comments

yanksfan114 Avatar
6 weeks ago

there's problems in every country. i believe its a bit wierd if you are against beliefs of other countries. then you should cut off all the business with them. you think the U.S would thrive like this if they had this isolated mentality?
When's the last time the US chopped up a reporter for writing against them or gay person just for being?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
leicaman Avatar
6 weeks ago
Having helped produced textbooks that in part sell in Saudi Arabia, I know something about localization there.

These Saudis are such snowflakes. No images of women. No mention of Christian or Jewish holidays. No mention of Saudi restrictions in the books. No mention of alcohol. The list goes on and on. It pretty much guts the ability of Saudi citizens to be fully informed about almost anything outside their culture.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JapanApple Avatar
6 weeks ago
I like to see their limited edition collections
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Evagoras2001 Avatar
6 weeks ago

Except that there is no g-cide going on in the place I assume you're alluding to.
[HEADING=2]Amnesty international says otherwise [/HEADING]
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThomasJL Avatar
6 weeks ago
Apple SJW-CEO Tim Cook pretends to care about human rights, but in reality, he will gladly do business with regimes who violate human rights—even regimes causing death to innocent people—in order for Apple to make more profits and please shareholders.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
6 weeks ago
I can’t even believe we have people stanning for Saudi Arabia and their horrendous human rights violations

Have we really fallen this far?
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)