Apple Store sitemap down as ‘Spring Loaded’ event nears

Update: Apple has now taken the Apple Store down fully.

Apple has taken its Apple Store sitemap down ahead of today’s “Spring Loaded” special event, which is expected to see the iPhone maker introduce its long-awaited AirTags, new iPads, and possibly an updated Apple TV.

As spotted by The 8-Bit, the Apple Store sitemap is now inaccessible to users visiting www.apple.com/shop/sitemaps/sitemap.xml. The online Apple Store itself remains available, allowing shoppers to browses and make purchases as normal, which is unusual for Apple, who usually pull the store off-line altogether in the hours leading up to new hardware being unveiled.

It is possible that Apple is adding new pages to the sitemap, for example, an AirTags page for the long-rumored item trackers, or simply that this is Apple’s first step in bringing the Apple Store off-line around the world fully.