Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. News

This new Apple Store in Singapore appears to float on water

Trevor Mogg
By

If Apple’s futuristic headquarters in California, is the mothership, then this sci-fi-inspired glowing “pod” must surely be one of its spacecraft.

Actually, it’s the tech company’s latest retail store, which is set to open in Singapore any day now.

Recommended Videos

Keen to generate some hype around its imminent opening, Apple is describing the new location in the city-state’s Marina Bay Sands resort as “the first Apple store in the world that sits on the water,” adding that the structure’s offbeat design “informs an entirely new store layout.”

Related
Roslan Rahman/Getty Images

Until it opens, we won’t know what that new layout looks like, but we do know that customers will be able to access the site via a boardwalk and an underwater tunnel that links to a shopping mall.

And yes, it really does glow at night …

This is Singapore’s third Apple Store, with the first one opening on Orchard Road in 2017, followed by a second at Jewel Changi Airport last year.

During a visit to Singapore in December 2019, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly commented on the busyness of the current locations, adding that the city-state “could use a third store.”

The opening comes at a challenging time for the retail sector as lockdowns and other measures linked to the coronavirus pandemic prompt more people to shop online.

Apple closed all of its stores outside of China in March 2020 and since then has been opening and closing sites according to local conditions regarding the severity of the pandemic. Singapore’s Apple Stores reopened on June 24 with shorter-than-usual operating hours.

In a bid to reduce the risk of staff and customers getting infected, Apple Stores are now requiring everyone entering the premises to submit to a touchless temperature check and wear a mask. Additional measures such as limited store occupancy, social distancing, and regular sanitization of surfaces are also in place.

Digital Trends has reached out to Apple for information on when its new Singapore store is set to open and we will update this piece when we hear back.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Apple working on 20-inch foldable device, new report claims
A close-up of the Apple logo on a 2020 M1 Mac Mini, with MacOS Monterey reflecting onto its surface.

Apple is working on a foldable iPad/MacBook hybrid with a large 20-inch display, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman -- a reporter with an impressive track record when it comes to Apple rumors.

The tech giant is looking at the idea of making a “dual-screen, foldable MacBook/iPad hybrid” that would use “one side of the display serving as a virtual keyboard,” according to Gurman’s unnamed source.

Read more
Apple Store siege in Amsterdam ends dramatically
The Apple Store in Amsterdam.

A hostage situation at an Apple Store in the Dutch city of Amsterdam ended dramatically on Tuesday night when the suspect was hit by a police vehicle as he ran from the store in pursuit of a hostage.

The incident started at around 5:40 p.m. local time (11:40 a.m. ET) on Tuesday, February 22, when police received reports of gunshots at the store in the bustling Leidseplein district just over a mile from Amsterdam’s main train station.

Read more
Get the COVID-19 booster shot, Apple reportedly tells staff
A man checks his phone in an Apple retail store in Grand Central Terminal.

Apple has reportedly told its store and corporate employees to get the COVID-19 booster shot or face frequent tests for the virus.

“Due to waning efficacy of the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines and the emergence of highly transmissible variants such as Omicron, a booster shot is now part of staying up to date with your COVID-19 vaccination to protect against severe disease,” Apple said in a staff memo seen by The Verge.

Read more