What's down, and who's affected
Apple’s App Store, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and AppleCare are currently facing partial outages, with some users unable to make purchases. AppleCare purchases are completely unavailable, impacting all users. The problems began at 7:40 p.m. ET and are still ongoing. The company's System Status page confirms these services are affected, listing specific impacts on user transactions and service availability.
The affected services include the App Store, iTunes Store, Mac App Store, and AppleCare. Users attempting to make purchases in these platforms may encounter problems, especially with AppleCare, where the situation is worse and entirely blocks purchases. These issues are disrupting both casual users and developers who rely on these services for transactions.
Developer services also hit
The Developer System Status page from Apple lists two ongoing issues affecting the Advanced Commerce API and In-App Purchases. Both problems began at 7:20 p.m. ET. Apple has confirmed that emergency maintenance is in progress, which it estimates will take approximately two hours to resolve. The goal of the maintenance is to improve the performance of the system, as stated in the status updates.
Developers are specifically impacted by these outages, with their access to the Advanced Commerce API and In-App Purchases services being limited. The maintenance is part of Apple’s broader efforts to ensure the reliability and functionality of developer tools and services, which are crucial for the App Store ecosystem.
User resolution times unclear
While Apple has set a resolution timeline of around two hours for the developer service issues, it has not provided an estimated time for fixing the outages affecting regular users. The user issues are broader and more disruptive, as they impact the general purchasing and transaction capabilities of Apple's services. This lack of a clear timeline adds to the uncertainty for users and developers relying on these platforms.
The ongoing nature of the user outages suggests a complex issue, which may take longer to resolve than the developer problems. Updates will be provided as Apple shares more information, but for now, users and developers must wait while the system maintenance continues.