Apple launches iPhone-app self checkout at retail stores

As MacRumors’ Eric Slivka explains, you can now use your iPhone (and the updated Apple Store app) to scan the barcodes of shelf-stocked items, pay with the credit card hooked into your iTunes account, and walk out of the store. (It emails the receipt to you.)

Sounds convenient, but also a theft risk, no? It’s not like the self checkout lanes at CVS, where they are arranged at the front of the store, with people watching. In theory, at the Apple Store, you can self checkout (or look like you’re pretending to) anywhere.

So, is Apple just relying on the honor system? (Will it do spot-checks?) Or does it also have a Vegas casino-like security system in each of its stores? Neither would surprise me.

Also: How much does it cost to make an Apple Store?