Apple's online store has gone down with the message "We'll be right back," for reasons that are currently unclear.

The change could be due to the launch of Apple's 2026 "Back to School" program, impending price increases, or the launch of new devices.

Apple's annual Back to School promotion for the U.S. and Canada is widely expected to launch any day now, since it still hasn't gone live despite the keynote-driven pattern Apple has followed in recent years. In three of the last five years, the sale has started 8 to 10 days after the WWDC keynote, and with the 2026 keynote held on June 8, that would have pointed to a start the week of June 15, a date that's now passed, making it seemingly overdue.

Apple has typically offered free AirPods or Beats headphones, gift cards, or other accessories with qualifying Mac and iPad purchases, with offers in North America and Europe usually launching in the June to July timeframe, and last year's U.S. version ran a free AirPods 4 with Active Noise Cancellation offer worth $179 through the end of September.

Apple could raise device prices any day now because the signals have moved from speculative to nearly confirmed in the past week. Apple CEO Tim Cook told The Wall Street Journal that price increases are "unavoidable" due to memory and storage costs, saying Apple is no longer able to absorb the increases and will need to pass some of the cost on to consumers.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman believes the timing of Cook's comments indicates price hikes are "imminent" and has linked them to Apple's Back to School sale, theorizing Apple may bundle the two together as a "buffer," with Gurman noting the increases are "not a fall thing."

More to follow...