Apple’s retail stores are about to look noticeably different. According to Mark Gurman in his Bloomberg Power On newsletter, Apple plans to speed up how quickly it renovates its stores over the next few years, and that renovation push comes with three major design changes worth knowing about.
The first change involves reworking the “Avenue” sections found alongside most Apple Stores, the areas typically used to highlight accessories and promote Apple’s various services. According to Gurman, Apple plans to introduce two new dedicated Avenue sections built specifically for online pickups and Today at Apple sessions. Right now, most stores handle these functions with a basic pickup table and a separate seating area for workshops. Under the new design, both functions move into 10-foot sections along the sides of stores, referred to internally as bays. The pickup bay will be built entirely from wood, featuring a subtle Apple logo on the upper half and secure storage drawers below for holding customer orders, along with a front table where employees can manage handoffs. The Today at Apple bay follows a similar layout, pairing a large display with secure drawers instructors can use to store devices during sessions.
The second major change involves removing the large video walls currently found at the back of most stores. Apple has used these walls for years to run Today at Apple content and broader marketing material, but the revamped store design does away with them entirely.
That removal opens up space for the third and arguably most notable change: the return of dedicated Genius Bars. Apple moved away from that classic design over a decade ago, shifting toward the open “Genius Grove” layout that’s become standard in most stores since. Under this new plan, many locations will replace their video walls with dedicated Genius Bars once again, bringing back an element longtime Apple Store visitors will likely recognize. The redesigned version keeps the familiar structure of the original Genius Bars but wraps it in an all-wood finish, offers two different counter heights for better accessibility, and includes storage drawers along with large product posters on the wall behind the counter.
Taken together, these three changes point toward a clear shift in priorities. Gurman says Apple’s overall goal is to realign its retail stores around more traditional and practical functions, covering service, fulfillment, and support rather than the more open, showcase-style layout Apple has leaned into over the past decade. Whether that shift means a full return to how Apple Stores felt years ago, or something closer to a hybrid of old and new, will likely become clearer as more stores begin rolling out the redesign.
