Last Wednesday, we experienced one of Apple’s new product events, which saw the unveiling of the new iPhone 7, the new wireless AirPods, and the new Apple Watch Series 2. Apple also gave us the release dates for macOS Sierra and iOS 10.
This twice-yearly (and sometimes more often) ritual follows a familiar pattern. Apple primes the pump by sending out a cryptic invitation to the press, which leads to much kremlinology as journalists try to glean hints from the slogan, graphic, or even font used in the invitation. (Or play it backwards to see if Paul is still dead.) Then, in a lead-up to the event, about six hours prior to Tim Cook’s walk-on, the Apple Store goes down.
Apple’s website continues to function, but click a Buy button for any product, and you’ll be met with a message informing you that changes are afoot. This outage takes place in the morning in the United States, so arguably doesn’t affect many people in that country; at least on the west coast. But in the rest of the world, and on the eastern seaboard, people are at work. All of Apple’s country stores close at the same time.
Read the rest of the article on Macworld.