Apple Thoughts: Apple Changes Return Policies

"The introduction of Personal Setup, a service for new users of Apple products in the Apple Retail Stores, has driven a big change in the company's strict return policies."

The new service, called Personal Setup, involves unboxing the very same items they used to charge a restocking fee on if returned opened, so it isn't really appropriate to charge that same fee since the opening of the product could have occurred inside the store. They still have the restrictions on non-Apple product returns and software (exchange only not return for refund after purchasing). You can find out more about it at this article from the ifo Apple Store site.