Apple Stores to Open at 9AM for iPad Launch

· by · iPad

Apple will be opening its retail stores at 9AM local time in the U.S. on April 3 to kick off iPad sales. The company said that all 221 of its U.S. locations will have iPads on hand, and also confirmed that most Best Buy locations will be selling the iPad on launch day as well.

Apple will also offer free personal setup service for every customer that purchases an iPad in store. The service will include help with setting up email, installing extra applications, and more.

The iPad is Apple’s new tablet form factor multimedia tablet device. It includes a 9.7-inch multitouch display, runs iPhone OS and is compatible with most iPhone apps, offers Bluetooth keyboard support, can play back movies and music, includes an ebook reader and the iBookStore for downloading books and magazines, ships with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, and some models include 3G wireless data access, too.

The iPad is priced starting at US$499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi model. The Wi-Fi plus 3G models are due to ship before the end of April.

“We can’t wait for users to get their hands and fingers on it this weekend,” said Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

Jeff Gamet

Jeff Gamet

Jeff is the Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and co-host of the Apple Context Machine podcast. He is the author of "The Designer's Guide to Mac OS X" from Peachpit Press, and writes for several design-related publications. Jeff has presented at events such as Macworld Expo, the RSA Conference, and the Mac Computer Expo. In all his spare time, he also co-hosts the We Have Communicators podcast, and makes guest appearances on several other podcasts, too. Jeff dreams in HD.

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3 Comments

Nookster

What time do they normally open?

azxplorer

The one here in Ft. Worth normally opens at 10am.

Lee Dronick

What time do they normally open?

The ones in the San Diego Area usually open at 10:00 AM as do the shopping malls. If the customer queues are as long as they are for a new OSX or something then we won’t be blocking the entrance to Simply Rainsticks and other shops in the mall.

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