FWIW, apples store best at 32-34F degrees. Large apple distributors store them in a darkened oxygen-free nitrogen gas environment for up to three years. Apples from USA that you buy in summer are last years Sept-Oct crop, and possibly from two years ago. The big distributors dump their old stock at cheap prices just as CO apple growers try to market their fresh crop. They fuck the farmers at the expense of the consumer. The old stored fruit goes bad quickly, lacks flavor, sugars and crispness which discourages people from buying apples. But, you can't beat the quality of a fresh Colorado apple in season.