News

Apple Brings Its Online Retail Experience To Saudi Arabia

The Cupertino company has launched its official online store and app in Saudi Arabia, offering Arabic-language support and personalized shopping for the first time.

Published

1 year ago

July 22, 2025

Nour Nasir

apple brings its online retail experience to saudi arabia

Apple has officially entered the Saudi retail market with the launch of its Apple Store online and the Apple Store app, now fully available in Arabic. The move marks the tech giant’s first direct-to-customer retail presence in the Kingdom — a shift that gives users access to Apple’s full product lineup and support ecosystem in their native language.

“We are thrilled to bring the Apple Store online and the Apple Store app to Saudi Arabia, offering customers a new way to explore and shop Apple’s extraordinary lineup of products and services,” said Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of Retail and People. “Our teams can’t wait to connect with customers and help them discover how Apple innovations can meaningfully enrich their daily lives”.

apple online store saudi arabia

Through the Apple Store app, users can browse with personalized recommendations based on their current devices, compare models, manage saved items, and track orders. The rollout also introduces full Arabic-language engraving for the first time, allowing customers to personalize AirPods, Apple Pencil, AirTag, and more with both Arabic and English text, emojis, or numbers.

Customers can now configure their Mac with custom chip, memory, and storage options or mix and match Apple Watch bands and cases for a personalized look. Support is also being expanded through chat and phone assistance, with services like Personal Setup, iOS migration, and cellular activation included post-purchase.

The store also offers Buy Now Pay Later options via Tamara, enabling customers to split payments over four months with zero interest. The Trade In program also arrives in the Kingdom, giving users the chance to exchange old devices for credit — or recycle them free of charge if no credit is available.

Also Read: Twitch Launches Arabic Right-To-Left Interface For Web & Mobile

Students and educators gain access to Apple’s Education Store, with discounted pricing on Macs and iPads. A limited-time back-to-school offer is also live until October 21, bundling AirPods or another accessory with eligible purchases.

Apple has confirmed it will begin opening physical stores in Saudi Arabia from 2026, with an iconic flagship planned for Diriyah, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The move builds on existing ties in the Kingdom, including the Apple Developer Academy launched in Riyadh in 2021 in partnership with local institutions.

News

Instagram Redraws Its Wordmark And The Internet Reads “Instagzam”

Instagram’s first wordmark refresh in a decade arrives with new fonts, a restrained gradient — and a Reddit verdict of sidegrade.

Published

4 days ago

August 14, 2026

Nour Nasir

Instagram

Although Instagram’s famous camera icon hasn’t changed, the company has refreshed the handwritten wordmark at the top of its app. This is the first redesign we’ve seen in ten years, and one the internet promptly set about renaming.

“The wordmark at the top of the app hasn’t changed in 10 years, so it was time for a refresh,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri wrote in a post on August 13, describing the new version as “cleaner and more modern” while keeping references to the original design.

Instagram says its team explored hundreds of options — all-caps lettering, camera-inspired concepts, even literal handwriting — before returning to script. “Script reflects individuality, so referencing that felt right,” Instagram director of product design Jasmine Probst said in Meta’s announcement. “The new wordmark is bolder and simpler, with touches of unexpectedness. It cues individual expression, a personal voice, both of which have always been core to Instagram”.

The wordmark is part of a broader brand overhaul: an updated Instagram Sans typeface, two new fonts — the hand-drawn Instagram Pen and Instagram Mono — plus refreshed motion and layouts, and more restrained use of the signature gradient. The wordmark is rolling out globally now, with the rest arriving throughout 2026 and beyond.

Also Read: Spotify Will Now Tell You If Your Favorite Artist Isn’t Real

The design mixes cursive and print lettering, some characters connected and others floating free. That hybrid approach, combined with unusually shaped “s” and “r” characters, led some users to conclude the logo actually reads “Instagzam”. On the r/logodesign subreddit, one user said the wordmark looked “fan-made,” like something built in Canva; another called it “an unsettling mix of manuscript and cursive”; a third summarized it as a “sidegrade” — or, inevitably, a “zidegrade”.

Not everyone was hostile to the new look. Some found the half-cursive design stylish and surprisingly readable, while others called it an improvement on its predecessor, and one commenter argued Instagram was simply adopting minimalist branding later than everyone else. Either way, the platform now has a refreshed identity, three updated fonts, and an unofficial new pronunciation.