Reports are coming in that Apple is preparing the in-store pickup option on new Watch orders in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, allowing customers in these launch countries to (soon enough, hopefully) select an Apple retail store to pick up their device after order.
As indicated by a report on MacRumors, the grayed out in-store pickup option on both the Apple Online Store and Apple Store shopping app is now labeled as “coming soon”.
While the company did plan on offering in-store pickups on Watch orders on the original April 24 launch day onward, high demand for the device coupled with various manufacturing issues prompted it to make the wearable device available through online orders only and ship orders to customers’ homes.
Like in-store pickups for other products, you will need to present a valid government-issued photo ID upon pickup as proof of identity.
For what it’s worth, most Apple Online Stores still quote a June or July delivery date for new orders. There was no word on when walk-in purchases might go live.
Because Apple still has a backlog of Watch orders, I don’t think in-store pickups will go live unless they get the current orders closer to shipping other than July.
Source: MacRumors