Ahead of the upcoming iPhone event that's set to kick off tomorrow, some Apple Store locations will have their windows blocked off with black curtains in order to make changes to the front window displays.
Twitter user Brian Roemmele yesterday tweeted a teaser about the upcoming change, and Bloomberg's Mark Gurman explained in another tweet that Apple is planning to bring back "the old-school 3D front windows" at some store locations.
Reason: It’s because they’re bringing back the old-school 3D front windows at some stores. Here are some old examples. I liked these. https://t.co/IQBbFF0tCn pic.twitter.com/LxhBlTUo65 — Mark Gurman (@markgurman) September 9, 2019
An Apple retail employee contacted MacRumors and confirmed Gurman's report. Apple Store workers recently practiced putting up the black curtains and were also instructed to clean out and fix floor mechanisms that haven't been used in years. This likely includes wires and other equipment used for anchoring the front displays.
Apple previously used intricate, eye-catching window displays with cutouts and designs showing off new products and features, but the practice was discontinued with the launch of the updated Apple Store designs.
Former Apple retail chief Angela Ahrendts and Jony Ive worked on the updated Apple Stores, but Ahrendts has since departed and Ive is set to leave the company at the end of the year, which is perhaps why Apple is now prepared to make some changes. Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's head of people, has taken over the company's retail initiatives.
Apple frequently changed its window display setups back when it used window displays, and many of the designs are still well known, such as the colored balls used for the iPhone 5c launch.
In some stores that have seen redesigns, it's not clear how the new window displays will work, but it looks like many retail store displays will soon get more interesting to look at.
