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How to Take a Free Apple Product Workshop

When you need a quick tutorial on your latest Apple device or software, you can take a free workshop online or at a nearby Apple store.

Updated April 26, 2022
Apple Workshop

Want to learn how best to use your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch? Need to brush up on your skills for creating great photos, videos, music, and more? You can always check out how-to articles on the web, buy a book, or try to teach yourself. But one free and helpful option comes directly from your local Apple Store.

Apple Stores offer free workshops on the company's core products and services. You can take classes to pick up tips and tricks on using the iPhone and iPad, the Mac, the Apple Watch, iCloud, Apple Music, and iWork. You can bone up on such topics as how to edit and share your photos, how to edit movies on the Mac, and how to draw and paint with the iPad. Each class is free, lasts for 60 or 90 minutes, and is taught by an Apple Store product expert.

Apple traditionally offers both in-person workshops and online sessions. The company previously put in-person meetings on hold due to COVID-19, but they're back, so you should be able to find the right sessions, both in person and online.

Apple offers three types of in-person classes – Skills, Labs, and Walks. The Skills classes feature basic lessons on specific products, apps, and techniques. The Labs classes are more advanced and provide interactive, hands-on training. And the Walks classes go outside the store to teach you how to use certain tools and technologies in the real world.

Virtual sessions are live and cover a range of topics, such as using an iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Further, Apple offers prerecorded and on-demand online sessions that delve further into specific areas through creative projects. Here’s a sampling of the classes you’ll find among the three types of in-person workshops and the live and prerecorded online sessions:

Skills:

  • Skills: Getting Started with iPhone

  • Skills: Getting Started with iPad

  • Skills: Personalizing Your Apple Watch

  • Skills: Accessibility Features for Vision Loss

  • Photo Skills: Photography on iPhone

  • Video Skills: Recording Techniques with iPhone

  • Video Skills: Getting Started with iMovie

  • Music Skills: Getting Started with Podcasting

  • Music Skills: Remix Lady Gaga

  • Coding Skills: Getting Started with Swift Playgrounds

Labs:

  • Photo Lab: Directing the Portrait

  • Photo Lab for Kids: Fun Family Portraits

  • Music Lab for Kids: Making a Theme Song

  • Art Lab: Playful Portraits

  • Art Lab for Kids: Make Your Own Emoji

  • Video Lab for Kids: Making a Movie Trailer

  • Video Lab for Kids: Adventures in Moviemaking

  • Design Lab: Draw Your Astronaut Inspired by Snoopy in Space

Walks:

  • Art Walk: Discovering Color

  • Photo Walk: Taking Portraits on Location

  • Photo Walk: Framing Architecture

  • Video Walk: Capturing Cinematic Shots

Virtual Sessions:

  • Virtual Session: Intro to iPhone

  • Virtual Session: Intro to iPad

  • Virtual Session: Intro to Mac

Prerecorded Sessions:

  • Creative Projects: Draw Yourself as a Peanuts Character in Pages

  • Creative Projects: Film Looping Video Magic in Clips

  • Creative Projects: Take Otherworldly Night Mode Photos on iPhone

  • Creative Projects: Take Expressive Pet Portraits on iPhone

  • Creative Projects: Take Powerful Portraits on iPhone


To get started, fire up your browser and surf to the Today at Apple website.

Today at Apple

Scroll down the page until you see a city or general location listed. If that’s not the right location for you or you wish to change your default location, click the current locale. At the menu, click the button to Use my current location if you’ve enabled location tracking on your computer or device. Otherwise, select your state and then choose the Apple Store you wish to use to find workshops. Check the box for Include nearby stores to expand your options. Click Apply.

Location

You can now hunt for classes based on category or date. Let’s try category first. Scroll down the page to check the different categories, including Photography, Video, Music, Coding & Apps, Art & Design, Health & Fitness, or Products.

Category

To see all the workshops for that general category, click the button for View Calendar. To check out a specific workshop that interests you, click the listing for that workshop.

Workshop listing

If you opted to view the calendar, the resulting page lists each workshop with the next available date and location for today. Keep scrolling down to see the availability for all the workshops for the rest of today, tomorrow, the next day, and on and on. Otherwise, click a specific date at the top to see all the workshops for that day.

Specific date

Click a specific workshop to see its availability. The resulting page serves up a description of the workshop with a specific date and time for the next session.

Workshop specifics

To check out different sessions, click the box that displays the date and time. The menu shows alternate sessions and may also offer a link for See More. To explore all available sessions, click the See More link.

Different sessions

Browse the available sessions. If you see a date and time that works, click the Select button next to it. If you’re not sure of the location or want to find the best way to get there, click the link for Get directions.

Get directions

That takes you to a Maps page where you can enter your starting address to find directions to the store. When done, click the Back button until you’ve returned to the previous page.

Map

To alert other people to the session, click the link for Invite others. You can then spread the word via Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or email.

Spread the word

To register for the session, click the Sign up button. Sign in with your Apple ID and password. You’re asked to identify how many guests you plan to bring, if any. Apple confirms your registration. Click the link for Add to calendar to generate a file that you can save to your email program. You’ll also receive a confirmation email.

Add to calendar

Before we leave this page, there’s one more item to check out. Scroll down the page further until you see a section for You Might Also Like. Here, Apple suggests workshops related to the one you selected. Swipe or arrow your way to the right to see all the related workshops. Select one that interests you to learn more and register for it if you wish.

Related workshops

Now, let’s try searching for workshops by date. This could be a handy option if you’re not sure what class you want to take or are open to a variety of topics and would like to choose a session based on your own availability. At any page on the Today site, click the heading at the top for Calendar. At the top of the Calendar page, select a specific date to view all the workshops for that day.

Calendar

To limit the results, click Filter. You can now filter the results to see only specific topics, session types, and/or times of the day. Click the Show Results button to see the filtered results.

Filter

Scroll down the list of results. Click the Details button for a session that interests you to learn more about it and sign up. If you already signed into your Apple Account, clicking the Sign me up button automatically registers you.

Details

Next, you can check on all the sessions for which you’ve registered. At any page on the Today site, click the My Reservations link at the top. Alternatively, click the link for Manage my reservations in any confirmation email.

My reservations

At the My Reservations page, you can view each session, click the link to Add to calendar to add a session to your email program, or click the Cancel link to cancel your reservation.

View sessions

The home page for Today at Apple displays all the different in-person workshops as well as the live online sessions. To see the prerecorded on-demand workshops, browse to the Hands-on Creative Projects page. If you find a project that interests you, click its image to start playing the video.

Creative Projects

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About Lance Whitney

Contributor

I've been working for PCMag since early 2016 writing tutorials, how-to pieces, and other articles on consumer technology. Beyond PCMag, I've written news stories and tutorials for a variety of other websites and publications, including CNET, ZDNet, TechRepublic, Macworld, PC World, Time, US News & World Report, and AARP Magazine. I spent seven years writing breaking news for CNET as one of the site’s East Coast reporters. I've also written two books for Wiley & Sons—Windows 8: Five Minutes at a Time and Teach Yourself Visually LinkedIn.

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