New Apple Stores Repair Macs and Other Store Tidbits

We returned to the McLean, VA, Apple Store last evening and talked to the "Genius". He said that, while it hasn't been widely advertised, people can bring in their Macs from the original iMac forward (i.e. August 1998) and they will either be repaired at the store or sent to Apple for repair. The Apple Store will attempt to troubleshoot any problem whether software or hardware. If it is a hardware problem with an iMac or Power Mac tower, then it will be fixed at the store. If it is a problem with a PowerBook, iBook or Cube, the store will ship it to a special Apple repair center. This is great news for those who don't have a good Apple ASC nearby and aren't normally home to receive a shipping carton or their 'Book or Cube back.

Other Apple Store Follow-Up Tidbits:

1. The new $999 17" Flat Panel LCD monitor announced yesterday was not available. Personnel at the store did not know when the new display would be in stock. Did they know that the price had dropped on the 15' ($599) and 22" ($2,499) LCD monitors? You bet.

2. There are no plans for the Apple Stores to carry Apple OEM Radeon or GeForce3 video graphics cards or the ADC/DVI adapter for new Power Macs to use the older Apple displays. Those sorts of things will continue to be sold through the on line Apple Store. There is no logic to this since other add-on things like speakers, keyboards and mice are available. Maybe writing to Apple will fix this.

3. Right now anyway, the internet connection via AirPort is not encrypted with WEP. It will stay that way until it presents a problem. Hey, that means that you can surf the web in the mall while your significant other shops!

Our weekend report with photos on the Grand Opening of the McLean, VA, store is here.