Apple’s biggest reg’l store, training center opens

WITH Cebu’s growing IT industry and gadget-savvy community, consumers are finding Apple’s beautiful hardware and unique software solutions  irresistible.

It is precisely the rapid increase in Apple product adoption that drove Manila-based Power Mac Center to open its latest location in Cebu.

“We welcome the opening of our Cebu Corporate Office – a big milestone for Power Mac Center which now spans the country’s major islands of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao,” said Power Mac Center Cebu’s marketing director Joey Alvarez.

Even though PCs still dominate the computer industry, the legendary Mac desktops and the latest MacBook Air ultralight laptops are popping up all over — in homes, schools, business, and government, not to mention, iPod music players that transformed the digital music industry and Apple’s groundbreaking iPhones and iPads.

With the largest regional center at the Business Park across the Ayala Terraces, individual and corporate users have local access not just to a major new retail sales location for Apple products, but also to the only premium Apple Service and Training location in the province.

The 200 square meter facility on the ground floor of the Creativo IT Center II building on Mindanao  Avenue has two classrooms, onsite  service and repair capabilities and a compact retail area up front.

Four engineers provide support, service and training for all kinds of Apple devices and software. Two are dedicated Mac experts and two are trained in the latest iOS devices from Apple, including the iPad, iPhone, and iPod family.

They can repair Apple products (for free if covered by the normal or extended Apple Care warranties), help you become an expert in the latest computer and iOS software, and even train you to become a certified Apple support person yourself.

As an incentive to visit  their new location, free special two-hour classes  will be held on January 15 and 16, 2014. This includes a two-hour introduction to iOS 7, the latest iPod, iPhone, and iPad operating system.

There will be two classes on the newest desktop and laptop Operating System (OS X Mavericks), plus training on the Apple creative suite of iPhoto, iMovie, and GarageBand and on its iWork  family of software (including the now free Pages, Numbers, and Keynote software for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations).

There will also be an introduction to Mobile Device Profile Management for corporate use and the individual power user.

Since space is limited and classes will fill quickly, those interested should sign up soon at https://www.tinyurl.com/FreeTrainingCCebuJan2014.

If you gave a new iPad, Mac, or  iPhone as gifts this Christmas, you may want to consider pre-registering for one or  more of these classes as an added gift to your family and friends.

Other training classes will be offered starting Febuary 2014.

In the Philippines, Power Mac Center was founded in 1994 with what was at that time a risky bet with Apple’s long-term future in question. The first retail shop at SM Megamall in Metro Manila turned out to be the right move as Apple’ fortunes took off in the 2000s.

Their reach now includes 17 stores in locations from Bacoor, Marikina, Pampanga, to the Mall of Asia, six service centers and the only Apple Authorized Training Center in the Philippines.