Apple is reopening its flagship Fifth Avenue store in New York City that’s known for the glass cube that sticks out of the ground in front of the General Motors Building, and we’ve had a peek before the doors open on September 20.
The store, which opened in 2006, is now double the size of the original, with higher ceilings and skylights that let natural light shine through. Surrounding these ceiling holes are LED strips that match the tone to the time of day, offering up a natural ambiance inside that matches the outside world.
As you walk through the glass cube, under the iconic Apple logo, you’ll walk down a spiral staircase that offers up a 360-degree view into the whole store, so you know exactly where all the products are placed.
Over on the far left side of the store is a giant display with cube seats, which is where you can catch daily Today at Apple programs. These programs frequently change, but Apple said it’s starting off on Saturday, September 21, with exercises on sketching the New York skyline on its iPads with Apple Pencils and more.
The Genius Bar is longer than ever, taking up an entire section along a wall. That means it’s staffed with more people to help you; Apple said there are now 900 employees for the store, and they can speak more than 30 languages, with many of them being bilingual.
Apple Fifth Avenue remains the only Apple Store that’s open 24 hours a day, 365 days a week.
Just in time for the launch of the Apple Watch Series 5, there’s a dedicated section in the store for the Apple Watch Studio, which is where you can use an iPad to create your own Apple Watch, from choosing the case material to the kind of strap you want. Apple Watch Studio is available online, so you don’t need to visit a store to use it, but its presence in stores allows you to see and feel all the case types and straps in person. It makes the experience of buying an Apple Watch a lot more personalized.
The reopening of the store coincides with the launch of Apple’s latest iPhone range, the iPhone 11, the iPhone 11 Pro, and the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
The store still showcases all of Apple’s other products, ranging from MacBooks and AirPods to accessories for the iPhone, and there’s even an area where you can play games on Apple Arcade.
Apple said the store has seen more than 57 million visitors since its debut in 2006. It reopens at 8 a.m. ET on September 20.
