'Apple Store Time Machine' takes you on a virtual walk through four iconic stores

Four famous Apple Stores, including the very first, have been perfectly recreated in a new app that lovingly takes you back in time to when iPods were all anyone wanted

Michael Steeber has previously created a virtual version of a new Apple Stores in the Bronx. But now he's launched a Mac app that is a detailed recreation of four stores at key moments.

"Travel back in time and revisit four iconic Apple Stores on grand opening day," writes Steeber on his site. "The Apple Store Time Machine is a celebration of the places and products that have shaped our lives for more than twenty years."

"This interactive experience recreates memorable moments in Apple history with painstaking detail and historical accuracy," he continues.

The four stores recreated are:

• Tysons Corner as it was on May 19, 2001
• Stanford Shopping Center on October 16, 2004
• Fifth Avenue on May 19, 2006
• Apple Infinite Loop on September 19, 2015

In each case, users can "walk" around the stores, seeing features you'd forgotten, plus rows of software boxes. There are even snatches of Steve Jobs talking as you move through the stores.

"Apple Store Time Machine" is a free download from Steeber's site, though he suggests giving a donation.

All four stores are truly beautifully recreated, and clicking to go through them triggers memories of the period, even if you didn't happen to ever visit these Apple Stores in person.

Unlike reality, each of these Apple Stores is empty of people. Perhaps that's in preparation for some future Microsoft Store virtual tour.