June 30 - 4:30pm EDT   Plans are now in place to distribute MacBooks amongst Maine high school students, according to officials from the state's Department of Education. Known to have been in the works since at least March, a deal with Apple will see over 64,000 MacBooks reach students and teachers between grades 7 and 12. Another 7,000 notebooks should be ordered within the next few weeks, officials say. [full story]

March 16 - 10:30am EDT   Apple stands to benefit from a new deal being negotiated with the government of Maine, writes the Associated Press. Members of the state's Education Department are said to be negotiating a four-year lease, which would see 100,000 MacBooks handed out to students in grades 7 to 12. By this fall the state hopes to provide all students in these grades with a notebook, expanding on efforts first begun in 2002. [full story]

September 9 - 11:50am EDT   A new Apple retail store has been confirmed to be opening its doors on September 13th in Maine, alongside the openings of stores in Ohio and Australia. This will be the first official Apple Store to be opened in Maine, which will be located at the Maine Mall in South Portland. The shop should feature all of Apple's normal retail services, such as a Genius Bar, Business Services, Workshops, Personal Shoppers, One-to-One training and Youth Programs. [full story]

August 27 - 9:45am EDT   Construction has begun on Apple's first retail store in the state of Maine, separate facts reveal. Confirming rumors from April, the Maine Mall in South Portland now lists Apple in its store directory, with an opening timeframe set for "Fall '08." The store may easily finish construction before October however, as a MacNN reader has taken photos of a facade already in place within the mall. Apple Stores tend to be completed within weeks of such facades being erected. [full story]

April 17 - 10:45am EDT   Apple is planning to open its first retail store in Maine this year, the Portland Press Herald reports. The newspaper observes that Apple's official job listings mention a location in the Maine Mall, and listings on Monster.com refer to openings for artists, store managers, sales representatives and inventory specialists. An Apple spokeswoman has refused to confirm either half of the equation, but has not denied any claims either. [full story]