SaudiMac Saudi Apple Macintosh Users
Thanks to Mohammad Milyani for posting his overview of Macintosh sellers in Jeddah. I have asked for his permission to translate his overview to English and post it here. The rest of the stores after the jump.
Lingo
Location: Khaldiah and Roshan Mall on king’s road.
Pros:
- Brand new store that sells Apple products
- Friendly staff
Cons:
- No Macintosh experience
- Outdated Machines
Decor: 8/10. Friendliness:9/10. Experience:3/10. Availability of machines:4/10. Price:7/10.
i.zone
Location: Prince Sultan road.
Pros:
- Beautiful decor and nice atmosphere
- The best in new product availability
- Many audio accessories
Cons:
- The store is lacking competition laws
- Most employees lack the experience
- Most employees need training in dealing with customers
Decor: 10/10. Friendliness:6/10. Experience:6/10. Availability of machines:7/10. Price:6.5/10.
Ahmed Abdulwahid stores
Pros:
- Availability of Macs and a huge selection of other machines
- Many branches of the store
Cons:
- Late availability of newer models
- Employees needs Mac training
Decor: 6/10. Friendliness:8.5/10. Experience:4/10. Availability of machines:4/10. Price:7/10.
Extra
Pros:
- The availability in Extra (which is a mega electronics store) have its advantages and disadvantages
- They have the stock if you can’t find it elsewhere
Cons:
- No employees can be found in the Mac section
- The Extra employees have no Mac training
Decor: 5/10. Friendliness:6/10. Experience:6/10. Availability of machines:6/10. Price:7/10.
Jarir Bookstore
Pros:
- Its considered an advantage that Jarir finally sells Macs
Cons:
- The employees know nothing about Macs
- The displayed Macs were running Windows
Decor: 5/10. Friendliness:6/10. Experience:4/10. Availability of machines:5/10. Price:7/10.
iWeaver
Location: Madina road.
Pros:
- Employees have the best Mac knowledge
- Employees are Mac users!
- Total respect to the customer. “except one occasion”.
Cons:
- Low stock and availability
- Decor needs some changes
- Small store
Decor: 8/10. Friendliness:10/10. Experience:8/10. Availability of machines:6/10. Price:8.5/10.
ADAM
Pros:
- Very big store
- Amazing availability of new products
- Imports new Mac models before any of the ABM stores
Cons:
- Very bad in-store maintenance
- You need to save your personal files before taking your machine to them
- If you need to leave your machine with them then make sure to DELETE your personal files
- Store lacks any customer relationship management
- Don’t trust the store’s guarantee about availability or repair
- They might damage your machine and claim you have damaged it!
Decor: 8/10. Friendliness:6/10. Experience:7/10. Availability of machines:9/10. Price:8.5/10.
Ijabat
Location: Madinah Center.
Pros:
- One of the oldest stores in Jeddah
- Fast availability of new products
Cons:
- Extremely overpriced
- Bad customer treatment unless you have loads of money!
- Worse maintenance
Decor: 8/10. Friendliness:3/10. Experience:7/10. Availability of machines:9/10. Price:1/10.
Please note they are the views/opinions here are not made by any of the SaudiMac co-owners, we are just reposting it here.
last february 27, 2008. i purchased an imac alum 20″ 2.0GHz from i-Weaver. Before i purchased form them, i looked around to some of these stores but i am not satisfied with how they treat a customer. Maybe because i’m an ex-pat. but in i-weaver they treat all customers equally. i still don’t know how knowledgeable they are when it comes to mac.
Just to mention that there are TWO other stores – both are i-Zone shops. One is one Thalia St, the other is lower ground floor , Red Sea Mall,King Rd. I’m thinking about buying either the white Macbook or the Macbook pro 13″ – where is the best price to get one? Might wait til I’m back in the UK ( I’m a UK Expat ) . Thanks.
Hi, I went into the i-zone store on Thalia street to ask for help with a problem I am having getting my mobily connect wireless internet to work. They just told me that mac’s do not work with mobily connect and there is no solution! I find this hard to believe … can anyone suggest another store where the staff have more technical knowledge? Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks
Assid
From my experience in Jeddah: mobily connect never worked with me, the iPhone 3G connection was very slow (EDGE most of the time).
it’s not the mac’s fault. it’s a bad connection for mobily in jeddah
There are two other stores you can try. Both on Medina Road. South bound, just after Sari St exit, get into the service lane. THe first store is the Apple Centre, and then a hundred metres or so furhter down, there is a I Waeaver store, both authorised Apple Re-Sellers.
BTW – I’m in the UK on leave at the moment, just about to go and purchase a new Macbook Pro 13″ ! Its a fantastic machine !
Congratulations on your MBP in advance, Labeeb.
Since I am not a Jeddah resident, I do want someone to post more info about these stores. please do so from the contact us form here
http://www.saudimac.com/about/
I got help in the apple store on madina Road and also the mobily centre in Tahlia. Both were able to help me out for the wireless network . Apple store was very helpful and the mobily store I had a long wait and finally problem was solves alhumdullilah
Shukran Khaled, just got back from shopping a couple of hours ago and about to set up the MBP! Just tidying up my old G4 Powerbook, to ‘loan’ to my daughter!
I want buy macpro, but I am waiting for since last 3 months for getting some offer. kindly update if you have any new offer.
You have to contact each store and see what offers they have.
what about istyle?
at the time of that article iStyle was not open in Jeddah 🙂
Thank you Khaled & Mohammad for this overview.
I’ve been looking for iMac 27″ Quad Core for three days now in jeddah, and till date i couldn’t find one 🙁
to save your time and make it short here what i found:
i-Weaver:
Decor: 6/10
Friendliness: 10/10. as always.
Experience: 10/10
Availability of machines: 6/10.
Price: 8/10.
i-Zone: which i’ll never visit again!
Decor: 8/10
Friendliness: 1/10. 1 is for the smile!
Experience: 5/10
Availability of machines: 5/10.
Price: 5/10.
i-style:
Decor: 5/10
Friendliness: 5/10.
Experience: 3/10
Availability of machines: 5/10.
Price: didnt ask them!
conclusion :
i-Weaver, im sorry that i went to another stores, you guys ROCK!
my personal experience  ,  i have tried itechia and izone and defiantly im going to choose izone,
at least they are cheeper and they have a good range of accessories ,
where is the iWaver address exactly in madinah road? thanks
Hi ana ra7 a5t9rlkm klamy da kolh ana bs ab3’a a3rf lysh izone kd?
i-Zone: which i’ll never visit again!
Decor: 8/10
Friendliness: 1/10. 1 is for the smile!
Experience: 5/10
Availability of machines: 5/10.
Price: 5/10.
ana
y3ny 89dy ano lysh bttklmo 3la izone o hya ms kda >>
I just came back from (i.zone) on prince sultan street. As soon as I came back home I open my laptop to put a review about this horrible store. It looks nice, but the staff gets on my nerves! eggggggh!..
First, the shop is over filled with sells men and they are annoying, and unfrindely. Also, I waited at the cashir counter while he was slow (VERY) and it took me 10 minutes of waiting for just one single customer who was ahead of me. Aggggh. I hated them.
If you ever go there, don’t ask them about anything. They answered me (confidently) with wrong answers.
mafi a7’lag… men al a5’eer.
sorry to hear that.
i dont agree with u at all, because we would never deal with izone if it was like what u r saying,
and we are dealing with them since 2008, and so far they are the best in the kingdom, and its good enough to have stores like izone in the kingdom , u should really go again and make sure if u were right,
 :)Â
assalamu aleikum ……m jafar ali from india….m planning to undertake hajj this yr inshallah….cld u pls tell me where can i get a macbook pro in mekkah or madina as i wont be allowed to visit other cities as per the rules n is dere any apple store near to jeddah airpot……will b highly thankful to u guys…….
I beg to differ with what is being written here. I have been a loyal customer of IZONE for a year now and have to admit that they’re by faaar the best APPLE store iun Saudi for the following reasons. ill keep it quick, other wise you guys might think i know them… hehehe 1. Its an APPLE Premium Reseller which i-weaver isnt and neither is that horrendous Itechia! 2. they get everything, and i mean everything first in the country. iPad’s, iPad cases, new macbooks, and they told me I’d be getting my iphone 4g next week. lastly, and i am not kidding here, their staff and super friendly and have gotten a loot better. I see a lot of hating on this site… very odd….. istyle is the other Apple store thats official, but they never have anything there… always out of stock out of stock. aggh. but i like them cause its a cleaan store.
I found this very interesting…. ARAB NEWS, cleary the number one english newspaper in the Saudi Arabia says I.ZONE does amazing job with APPLE. and KAUST chose them to be their APPLE store branch! That is enough for me to know where to shop for MAC>
http://www.allvoices.com/s/event-5546345/aHR0cDovL2FyYWJuZXdzLmNvbS9saWZlc3R5bGUvc2NpZW5jZV90ZWNobm9sb2d5L2FydGljbGUzOTkwNC5lY2U=
So people’s opinions mean nothing?Â
According to that article iZone is getting iPads, skipping the authorized method.. as in, gray market.
Welcome to the site by the way
I honetsly dont know what half of you are on about. You all clearly know nothing about Mac or there top accessories. I-Zone is by FAAAAAAAAAAAAAR the best Apple store in Saudi Arabia period…They get all the products before anyone and are listed on Apple.com as an official reseller. I asked, and they do have a training cener for their employees and just to test it out, being from the states and knowing everything to do with “Apple” I found the staff to be very polite and on their toes. They knew what they were talking about. The accessoriesthey have are superior to anyone in Saudi. Monsters Beats by Dre and Beats by everyone for that matter. They have Jawbone who honestly is a revolutionary ear piece thats wind canceling. and the list keeps going and going. I love going to the store to see what new technologies they have. For Saudi Arabia, its a brilliant store. They even recently opened in Riyadh and are the only Apple outlet to be allowed to open in Kaust. Clearly they are doing something right. All of you should get your facts straight. Keep buying your stuff from unofficial places. Leaves more for me!!!! They always have what I want!!!! LOOOOOOOOV IT! THANKS I-ZONE FOR MAKING MY LIFE BETTER IN SAUDI !!!!! WHOOOOP WHOOOOOP!!!
This is not a competition to be the “only” store in Saudi Arabia. You’re entitled to your opinion and that means other people have their own opinion and experience.
apologies Khalood for coming a bit strong, but Im a loyal customer and it awes me how people have spoken poorly about it. I just dont believe their comments. I tell it how I see it… I have been to all of them, and I.Zone is just too far ahead of the game they’re not looking back. It should be the ONLY store in Saudi, period…no one comes close. I just find it amusing how some of these comments are clearly bias. but whateva treva….like I said if your a true mac fan, I.Zone is the only place to shop. have a good summer yall!
Hi,,, Iam here in TaIF, SAUDI and i just want some help from any body out there to please give me info. on where and how i can have apple laptop is there any apple store currently offerring apple laptops in jeddah which part
@ Al-VinharJ.Joe
THere are plenty of Apple shops in Jeddah, it depends on which part you know and where you want to go?
e.g Red Sea Mall ( iZone )  and Mall of Arabia  ( iStyle ) both have Apple shops
Medina Road has iWeaver
Thalia St has iZone
There is another Apple store on a street but I cannot remember the name of the road! It is just off Prince Sultan St, take the roundabout at Extra ( Sultan Mall ) and go towards the Corniche, the shop is there on your right hand side, next to Tokyo Games.
THere really are plenty of shops there in Jeddah, so take your pick really.
Good Luck.
hi guys,
i want to buy ipod touch 4c 32gb…..i went to izone on tahliya street…izone branch in andalus mall…dey r out of stock so soon…i caleed oder branches no 1s answering….can i get to know any oder grat place where da sales man knows hoe to talk properly…where dey hav dis product…..im desperaste to buy dis …thanx !!!
hi guys,
i want to buy ipod touch 4g 32gb…..i went to izone on tahliya street…izone branch in andalus mall…dey r out of stock so soon…i caleed oder branches no 1s answering….can i get to know any oder grat place where da sales man knows hoe to talk properly…where dey hav dis product…..im desperaste to buy dis …thanx !!!
I went to I.ZONE yesterday, they have all the new ipod touches, nano’s and Shuffles… I went to Tahlia one, but my friend two days ago got one at the Red Sea Mall location. They are out soon, cause I guess they have this crazy promotion going on till Monday I think.
Anyways, hope I helped.
hey girls or guys whatever u are, :p
i am looking for a low price for ipad 16G where can i find it ?! and how much does it cost ?!
plz answer as quick as possible <3
plsss can someone tell me where can i buy BEATS BY DRE DRE HEADPHONE her in jeddah.. thank..
izone is the best place in saudi arabia to buy monster beats,, they even have the new justin beats,
and im telling this because i have my personal experience with izone , they have replaced my broken studio beats which is too good,
i recommend izone, they have branch in tahlia and in prince sultan street,
plsss can someone tell me where can i buy BEATS BY DRE DRE HEADPHONE her in jeddah.. thank..
Beats by Dre? I bought these for my son when I was last back in the UK, but didn’t get them from any Aple Shop. I got them form HMV. With that in mind, you may need to go somewhere else than Apple Resellers – have you tried VIrgin Megastore ( Thalia St? ) THere was going to be another Virgin Store opening in Red Sea Mall ( King Road ) but also in Red Sea there is an iZone store.
As you may know , there are different versions of Beats – Studio and the Solo Version.
I really need to buy this headphone badly 🙁 but the problem is i dunno know where to find the exact store in jeddah.. im here in taif its so hard for me to find anywhere.. huhuhu 🙁
Hey everyone,
Monster Middle East says the parent company for Monster in Saudi Arabia is Alireza Holding. They are the parent company for I.ZONE. I.ZONE has the entire range of beats, including the justin Beats, which i got.. What can i say, im a laker fan. But, the Alireza office said that the Beats are also available in all Virgin stores and even the duty free at the airport and a few more retailers. So to find out which beats is official you have i.zone and virgin.. for more locations, just call Alireza Holding up and ask if the beats you bought from another store are legit. they’re pretty helpful.
Hope this helped… I had same issues before.
Hey everyone, just saw this site… very interesting indeed to see such a community in Saudi for mac.. its fantastic… I do however see alot of negativity towards everything… i am reviewing the market and to be honest in my opinion the top two are istyle and I.ZONE.. itechia seem to be the worst, and iweaver the most targeted towards arab speaking individuals. As for store design and service I.ZONE wins hands down. For one reason, they have access to APR programs, and are official distributor it seems for many brands.. including Monster Beats….. i was at CES and they won the international audio/video retailer awards worldwide. thats saying something… those in jeddah be thankful, cause the situation in Riyadh is appauling. thank god istyle and izone are here… cause there seems to be zeeeeero competition laws here with apple signs beigger then teh US??? hows this possible….
anyways, nice meeting you all.. off to the airport.. saudi has been fantastic.. cant wait to come back… just not too soon. bit too hot
Apple just updated its MacBook Pro lineup for this year. See, for instance:
http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/desktop-hardware/2011/02/24/new-macbook-pros-feature-thunderbolt-sandy-bridge-40091935/
Does anyone have an estimate how soon these are likely to arrive in jeddah’s stores and which store is likely to carry them first?
I just bought the first mb pro from the new line from izone in riyadh,Â
its amaaaaazing and i love my mac,
does anybody know where i could buy skins/decals [stickers] especially designed for macbooks? I’ve checked izone [red sea mall] but they dont have it.. They used have gelaSkins before though..
Thoughts guys? thanks..Â
As people have been praising izone, I decided to pay a visit to one of their branches in al-rawdah district, jeddah. I’ve been saving up for a 15″ macbook pro, so I was testing one of them in the showroom. I was very pleased with the employee who approached me, as he was able to communicate in english and provide every bit of detail of the mid 2012 macbook pro 15″. A few minutes later, he moved on to other customers and then I was accompanied by another employee. I continued to speak in english but I was disappointed to see this employee speechless, so I tried to make him understand in the little-arabic-I-knew but he still had a very hard time interpreting what i wanted to know. I left him standing there and called upon the third employee, to my surprise he didnt know english as well… sigh. In the end, I checked out the other products and the showroom and then left.
SHOWROOM- 9/10
CUSTOMER FRIENDLY-9/10
EMPLOYEE FLUENCY:7/10 just because the first employee was able to communicate well or else 4/10
PRODUCTS: 8/10 Macbook with retina display still not available
OVERALL- 7/10
IZONE was’nt that good, I’ve seen better places to get your apple product.