Apple's Flagship Regent Street Location in U.K. Reopens October 15

[ZMacintosh]

I strongly dislike the new floors in the redesigned/new stores. It reminds me of something out of a crappy Kmart department store. theres plenty of different types of stone out there they could have used.

Only Apple would allow a whopping 25% reduction of space

To be honest, I think this most likely has all the right reasons, and is a brave move!

More like it took courage

 

[otternonsense]

So Apple is redesigning its stores to better feature 4-year old computers, 3-year old phone casings, a tepid smartwatch and a sea of tablets. Maybe it's the products that need a major overhaul and not the shelves Angela puts them on? Maybe the priorities of this company are ass backwards?

 

[bbbb4b]

I hope they preserve the look of the building facade. "Modernizing" the look of a store in a historic building is not a good thing.

You must be new to Apple stores. That's the only rationalization for your comment.

 

[AppleMark]

Only Apple would allow a whopping 25% reduction of space

To be honest, I think this most likely has all the right reasons, and is a brave move!

Well it is an improvement on the tiny space they forced us all to 'shop' in during the refurb. Yes, I made the mistake in going there just after the new year. The entire store was in the basement.... Looked like a bargain basement store with security guards floating about.

It seem's like it took forever as well.

 

[Cameront9]

I hope they preserve the look of the building facade. "Modernizing" the look of a store in a historic building is not a good thing.

I believe they are actually required to by law.

 

[peterh988]

What Apple seriously needs to do is divide and organize the genius bar from the hordes looking at the products...

Plus the training areas being separated and private. If I was paying for training I don't want to sit with shoppers pushing past me, and, as a shopper, the last time I tried to look at the MBP's, they were totally obstructed by the training going on on the opposite tables.

 

[Sandybox]

Wow, paying Fosters for some minor renovations....unbelievable. Apple is in La La land. For heavens sake its a glass fronted shop with a few tables and shelving from Ikea in it. Its not some deep and meaningful piece of architecture, its a sodding shop.

 

[nebo1ss]

I hope they preserve the look of the building facade. "Modernizing" the look of a store in a historic building is not a good thing.

They would never be allowed to do that. I would imagine the changes are going to be inside the store.

 

[macs4nw]

The regent st store was my first experience of using Apple products. Back then Apple updated Macs.....

Yeah sigh, having the latest and greatest is always nice, and advancements in processor and graphics chips as well as the latest connectivity protocols often (but not always) seem to come later to the Mac line-up than they appear on the competition's models. You like to think that Apple does their due diligence perhaps more thoroughly, but I for one also wouldn't want to be tempted to knee-jerk update for every little improvement that comes along.

On balance, other than the odd 'quiet' incremental in-between-update, Apple mostly updates their Mac line up when there are at least several worthwhile improvements warranting a change of hardware for those in the market for a new computer. What really stands out at the moment is that 5-yr old (now discontinued) Thunderbolt Display. Apple has several options for introducing a stand-alone 5K display such as built-in custom graphics in their monitors, or a custom TCON such as what they currently employ in their 5K iMacs. But it looks more and more like they're waiting for Intel's CannonLake with (finally) promised DP1.4 support.

While we can no longer expect mind-blowing CPU and GPU improvements, I'm personally looking forward to Macs with consistent (multi-port) USB-C connectivity through their entire line-up (with Thunderbolt3 and USB3.1 Gen2 support), and hopefully a few legacy ports, as well as implementation of macOS Sierra's new APFS file system with its improved security through integrated encryption, more precise time-stamping, SSD optimization speed improvements, much lower latency, and vastly increased storage capability.

It'll also be interesting to see whether Apple will replace the ⅛" headphone jack on the iMac with a Lightning port for wired usage of all the Lightning equipped headphones about to hit the market.

 

[Reason077]

The exterior would be listed. The fussy windows wouldn't be. Removing the four Apple logos and getting rid of the window sections and replacing each with simple glass windows filling each entire arch will help the old architecture sing. As will removing some upstairs floor space to let more natural light flood the down stairs interior space.

There are no changes to the exterior glass, aside from cleaning and maintenance. The removed "glass partitions" were on the interior, where the illuminated Apple logos used to be.

The only significant changes to the exterior (on the Regent Street side) are the removal of the logos and a new, slightly bigger flag/flagpole.

 

[saudade]

Am I the only one that detests going to the Apple store?

Regardless of an appointment it requires traversing large crowds, malls - yuck - parking etc

I like it. Lots of friends and cool ppl 2 c. We spend long hours there cause my females mujeres likes to go and i buy them things they all prefer the gold version 128 gb or more and the apple relój oro. We like big things cause they r very expensive and more visibles so brothers from el barrio can see we have very expensive gold apple products u know what i mean? They cant believe i have de todo ahora and nothing when living in puerto rico i park mi carro on the street i dont care the tickets cause i never pay lol

 

[amegicfox]

Tim let's keep opening and renovating stores to sell 4 years old overpriced macs !

 

[Steve121178]

Hooray - London will be back up to its full complement of locations at which you can't get a Jet Black iPhone.

The London stores were always places to avoid at all costs as you could never get inside! They were literally jam-packed full of tourists and weirdos using the internet for free on the display Macs/iPads.

 

[nebo1ss]

The London stores were always places to avoid at all costs as you could never get inside! They were literally jam-packed full of tourists and weirdos using the internet for free on the display Macs/iPads.

That is not my experience and I live in London and have been in both the Covent garden and Regent street stores to pick things up like replacement power supplies, replacement batteries, cables etc. Obviously with new product launches things are different but I would avoid both during any launch event.

 

[Keane16]

So Apple is redesigning its stores to better feature 4-year old computers, 3-year old phone casings, a tepid smartwatch and a sea of tablets. Maybe it's the products that need a major overhaul and not the shelves Angela puts them on? Maybe the priorities of this company are ass backwards?

Your post shows how out of touch the majority on this site are

- Apple Watch - http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...action-outpaces-original-iphone-ipad---report
- iPhone (up 1 point from 2015 to 2016) - https://9to5mac.com/2016/06/01/american-customer-satisfaction-index-apple/
- iPad - http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...tion-study-with-microsoft-gaining-ground.html
-MacBooks - http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/macbook-leads-reliability-customer-satisfaction/

The products are doing fine regardless of how tepid you think they are or how much you want new phone design.

Once the users are unhappy it's time to question (and I mean the masses that Apple target not us geeky types on this site).

 

[Silly John Fatty]

I hope they preserve the look of the building facade. "Modernizing" the look of a store in a historic building is not a good thing.

Yeah. Sadly in (too) many places in Europe it was the case. But Regent Street is more "protected" than other areas.

For me a no-go as well + it looks cheaper. Historic buildings only look classy and expensive when they're in the style they're meant to be.

 

[uwdude]

I agree that they should put the Genius Bar in a separate room. You should check in near the door, and they show you into a Genius Bar Lounge to wait, with ice water dispensers and restrooms. Then when they notify you through a message on your device or calling your name if your device isn't working, you go through another door to the Genius Bar. It would make it seem like you were going into the inner sanctum of the store, and make it a nice experience.

 

[ConnYoungy]

I hope they preserve the look of the building facade. "Modernizing" the look of a store in a historic building is not a good thing.

Given that it's listed, I imagine the facade is safe.

Thank god, I hate the covent garden store.

Why? It's my favourite

I strongly dislike the new floors in the redesigned/new stores. It reminds me of something out of a crappy Kmart department store. theres plenty of different types of stone out there they could have used.

Did you know it's made of recycled phone parts?

 

[Tech198]

i liked the old design better..

Of course. the photo always looks 'better' when everyone is walking past looking in...

 

[uwdude]

Given that it's listed, I imagine the facade is safe.



Why? It's my favourite



Did you know it's made of recycled phone parts?

Wait, those gray floors are recycled phone parts??

 

[lowendlinux]

Man that Brussels store is pretty!

 

[otternonsense]

Your post shows how out of touch the majority on this site are

- Apple Watch - http://appleinsider.com/articles/15...action-outpaces-original-iphone-ipad---report
- iPhone (up 1 point from 2015 to 2016) - https://9to5mac.com/2016/06/01/american-customer-satisfaction-index-apple/
- iPad - http://www.patentlyapple.com/patent...tion-study-with-microsoft-gaining-ground.html
-MacBooks - http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/macbook-leads-reliability-customer-satisfaction/

The products are doing fine regardless of how tepid you think they are or how much you want new phone design.

Once the users are unhappy it's time to question (and I mean the masses that Apple target not us geeky types on this site).

What an irrelevant mishmash. Citing US customer post-purchase satisfaction surveys says nothing about device newness (the lack of which is puzzling and holds back several prospective customers) and zip about customers overseas. You did notice the reports about those redesigned shops refer to London and Brussels, right?

 

[ConnYoungy]

Wait, those gray floors are recycled phone parts??

yes