The Apple Store

Apple Inc. has grown exponentially since its founders, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, built the first Apple I in 1976. Today, Apple is firmly established in the computer industry, earning a reputation as one of the best high-tech developers. Alongside industry-shaking contributions and sleek electronic accessories that have earned more than 100 major design awards from the iF design competition, Apple has won awards for the layout and style of their retail stores. These high-end stores make their homes in major cities. Notable among these is the flagship Manhattan Apple store. New York, NY, has many noteworthy attractions, but surely one of the most eye-catching is this Apple store with its patented glass cube design.

The New York Apple location opened in 2006, and it underwent a major overhaul in 2011 to reduce to the number of glass panels used in the all-glass entrance. An incredible glass spiral staircase was part of the design, as was a glass cylindrical elevator to move patrons between floors. Noted architecture critic Ada Louise Huxtable declared that the Apple store redeemed this part of 5th Ave. from the mediocrity of its previous architecture. Indeed, elegance defined this stunning presentation. The architecture firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, the store’s designer, called it "a dramatic retail environment," and in 2007, it earned an American Architecture Award and an AIA New York State Award of Excellence for Design.

Further improvements to the Apple store 5th Ave. site began in January of 2017, when Apple closed the store and opened an interim location next door at the former FAO Schwarz. Upon opening of the new Apple store, New York customers would be able to visit a store with more than two times the underground space, expanding from 32,000 square feet to 77,000 square feet. The characteristic glass cube, made of three huge panels on each side, remains at the Apple store New York site as the entrance to the main floor, but skylights greatly improve the amount of natural light.

At the Apple store in NYC, 5th Ave. tourists and customers can visit anytime: It’s open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and 365 days a year. But there’s also plenty else to see in this part of Manhattan besides the Apple store: Uptown has so much to see and experience, and when you book a ticket for our hop on/hop off Uptown and Harlem double-decker bus tour, you’ll be able to fully take in the entire area around the Apple store. NYC 5th Ave. sightseers can simply hop off at Central Park South to see the Apple store or at any of the other stops to explore popular cultural attractions like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and historical landmarks like the Empire State Building. Apple enthusiasts will love snapping photos of the city’s great sights with their iPhones, and we can help take you there!