In an unusual move, Apple has taken the Apple Store offline for the second time this week in advance of today’s release of the new iPad and (PRODUCT)RED iPhone. Apple took its online store down early Tuesday morning in advance of the announcement of both products, indicating that they would go on sale at 8:01 AM PDT today.
As all of the new products were already appearing on the Apple Store on Tuesday, most assumed that the ordering links would simply become active at the scheduled release time, however for whatever reason Apple has chosen to take its store offline again.
While Apple released several other products earlier this week as well, only the new iPad, iPhone SE, and (PRODUCT)RED iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus models were delayed until Friday. Other products that were announced earlier this week such as the iPad mini 4 (which was only a price change), and the new Apple Watch bands and iPhone cases were available for sale on Tuesday.
While it’s unclear what else Apple has in store, the most likely explanation is that Apple has taken the store down specifically for the three new products going on sale today, as opposed to planning to debut anything else new.
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