By Ronald Chavez From Mashable

Apple’s vision of a ritzy, high-end retail presence apparently also has room for drones.

The DJI Phantom 3 Advanced and Phantom 3 Professional appeared on the company’s online store today — the first set of drones featured on the site aimed at more serious drone users (not just hobbyists).

An employee at one of New York City’s largest Apple Stores confirmed to Mashable that, for now, the drones are only available on the company’s online store. A quick check of the personal pickup tool on the Apple Store website shows they only ship to brick and mortar store locations if you choose to have the drone delivered there.

The drones don’t come cheap — the lower-end Advanced model is $999.95, while the Professional version is $1259.95. At those prices, it might be better to get the higher-end model, which lets you record 4K video. Both models come bundled with a funky looking remote that has a built-in iPad dock, as well as a 12MP camera. Aside from recording amateur footage, the drones might also be useful for news organizations and professional photographers looking to shoot footage from tough-to-reach places.

And while these are the most noteworthy drones the Apple Store has ever offered, the store has actually sold drones for a while now. Past models have mostly been smaller devices from the likes of Parrot, such as the MiniDrone (although the store also carries the premium Parrot Bebop Drone).

The move to bring more high-end drones to its online store is consistent with other pricey accessories Apple has carried in the past. The company tends to feature products that add value to the ones it already sells. For example, the store prominently features Philip’s Hue lightbulbs in its stores, which can be controlled using an iOS device.

In its physical stores, Apple is in the middle of a gradual redesign of a large chunk of its retail stores, according to a report from 9to5Mac. The company’s retail spaces recently relegated iPods to accessory shelves and removed Smart Signs (iPads placed next to demo products that displayed relevant information like pricing and features) from its display tables.

IMAGES:
KIN CHEUNG/ASSOCIATED PRESS
HJ3E2 A hovering DJI Phantom 3 Advanced. IMAGE: APPLE

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