Best Buy begins offering in-store pickup of new Apple TV
Now there’s another option for preordering your new Apple TV, and this one doesn’t require shipping. Electronics retailer Best Buy has begun accepting preorders for Cupertino’s latest set top box on its United States website for in-store pickup or delivery beginning Nov. 4. Personal pickup is an option that Apple hasn’t enabled yet.
Best Buy will carry both the 32 GB and 64 GB configurations of the Apple TV, priced at $149.99 and $199.99 respectively. At the same time that you pre-order, you can also choose the optional two-year AppleCare Protection Plan for $29.
Even though Apple began taking online orders for the new set top box on Oct. 26, the tech giant has not yet confirmed when the devices will be available at its own retail stores. Given the current shipping estimates and Best Buy’s in-store release date, the week ending Nov. 7 seems to be a strong possibility.
Best Buy is a very convenient alternative for many prspective Apple TV 4 purchasers who prefer to make their pickup in the store rather than rely on shipping. Quite a few communities lack an Apple Store, but Best Buy has roughly 1,050 stores in the U.S., as well as nearly 200 locations in Canada.
The earliest deliveries of the Apple TV should arrive on Oct. 30, for those consumers who chose one-day delivery. Standard shipping delivery estimates range between Nov. 2 and Nov. 6. As MacRumors notes, orders for the new Apple TV are now showing a “Preparing for Shipment” status, right on time for delivery on or after Oct. 30.
Apple may well have missed the mark by not allowing for standard shipping to get Apple TV units to consumers by Oct. 30, as well as not allowing for personal pickup in a brick and mortar store. Several buyers have voiced their displeasure at having to pay for one-day shipping to receive the new device on launch day. Perhaps expanding sales to Best Buy will ameliorate some of this unhappiness and put the Apple TV into more households.