Apple's latest SF store showcases chain's new design direction (pictures)

On the 15th anniversary of its first-ever retail stores, Apple showed off its newest location, in downtown San Francisco.

Apple's newest store is located three blocks from an older San Francisco store. CNET got an early preview with other reporters.

The front of the building has two giant sliding glass doors, which are 42 feet tall.

A feature for new Apple stores is called the "forum." This includes a gigantic 6K video screen on a wall and seating for people to take photography classes and attend other sessions.

Angela Ahrendts, Apple's head of retail, joined the company two years ago to overhaul online and in-store retail.

"This is not just a store," Ahrendts said during a sneak peek for reporters at the store, the first in the world to feature the company's new retail design. "We want people to say, 'Meet me at Apple, did you see what's going on at Apple?'"

Ahrendts served as CEO of fashion brand Burberry before joining Apple. Here, she states the case for a wall of colorful iPhone cases.

The back plaza of Apple's new store will be open to the public 24-7 and will have free Wi-Fi. Any bets on how long it will take for someone to actually move into the park?

Wood grain is among the, um, granular details at Apple's flashy new retail outlet.

Stairway to iHeaven.

Goodbye, Genius Bar. Hello, Genius Grove. Apple created a new area for tech support in what Ahrendts called "the most beautiful place in the store."

"You know how iconic the Genius Bar is all around the world. But the word 'bar' denotes noisy, loud, chaotic," Ahrendts said. That's why the tech support area got a redesign.

Yes, those are real trees.

Apple showcases third-party accessories in its stores, including many you can't buy anywhere else.

New meets old with a view of one of San Francisco's many classically styled buildings.

An entrance to SF's famous Union Square can be seen just outside the door and across the street.

City on the left, country on the right. Take your pick.

iPalms in Union Square.

No word yet on whether Jony Ive instructed that woman to stand there so her bag would create a composition with the sign in the distance. It's possible.

The first floor of the new Apple Store is what the company calls the "avenue." It's supposed to feel like a small-town square with individual shops. Instead of a bakery, you'll have an Apple Watch section.

Browsers table-hop.

An Apple Store employee chats with Ahrendts during her visit to the store Thursday. A Phantom 4 drone looks on.

Happy Applers.

The ceilings in the new Apple Store feature hundreds of thousands of LEDs covered by cloth to give the room a bright glow.

Apple Watches in the foreground, Apple watch cap in the back.

Apple hopes levitating gadgets will inspire rising sales.

It doesn't take a genius to tell you where to find the laptops.

An Apple employee cases the joint.

Clever cabinetry.

A table of tablets.

CNET photog Josh Miller channels Alexander Rodchenko (or maybe László Moholy-Nagy). Not bad, Josh!

This staffer's outfit simply kilt 'em. (Sorry, we just couldn't skirt that one.)

A glowing wall of gizmos.

Apple's store in San Francisco's Union Square opens to the public May 21.