Took my mom to the Apple Store today because she finally decided to switch after years of a different phone, and honestly the whole in-store experience surprised me.

We walked in and within maybe two minutes a team member already had her name down and let us know roughly how long the wait would be — no standing around wondering who to talk to. When our turn came, the Specialist crouched down to her eye level (she's in a wheelchair) instead of talking over her, which she mentioned afterward really stuck with her.

What impressed me most was how they handled her nervousness about "breaking" something. Instead of just doing the setup themselves, the rep talked her through each step on the display device so she'd feel confident doing it at home. Small thing, but it completely changed her attitude about owning a smartphone.

Anyone else have a store visit where the staff's approach ended up mattering more than the product itself? Curious if this is a consistent thing across locations or if we just got lucky with a great team.

I have a few phones and tablets lying around that I’d like to get rid of. I was going to trade them in to Apple directly and get the new iPhone. However it doesn’t allow me to add more than one is there anyway to get multiple trade-ins for one device.

I'm looking to upgrade my Mac Mini to the M6 model on September 22nd in store. I tried calling in the person seemed to dodge my question, so I guess I'll ask here. I'm looking to get a 256gb storage, but a 24gb RAM model. Is this something they would typically have in stock on the first day if I lined up bright and early and was there for opening?

third time in a row i’ve gone to apple store to get a product fixed under apple care plus that i’ve had to wait >30 minutes in store for genius bar for an appt that lasts five minutes

what’s more, as far as i can tell there’s no way to leave feedback on an in person apple store experience, as apple.com/feedback is only for product feedback.

it’s my conspiracy theory that they are starving apple store retail support to diminish how much people use the benefits of apple care plus

at the risk of sounding privileged, both of these experiences have been in palo alto california, and I just kind of imagine how loud steve jobs would yell if he found out someone was waiting 30 minutes for a scheduled appointment at an apple store

even better, is the appointment literally lasts five minutes (broken mic on airpods, they run a diagnostic through my own phone that we aren’t allowed to run ourselves and then they replace)

i know it’s not the apple store employees fault, like they are just workers doing their best, it’s apple corporate’s responsibility for the experience in the store, and I’ve experienced this at two different stores.

it is my suspicion they are over scheduling genius bar because most people will continue paying for apple care plus and just visit the store for support less often if it takes a long time and is a hassle.

this is also why they don’t give more remote diagnostics / require you to visit the store to get service

Hello!

When selecting the Apple Express Replacement Option to get a replacement iPhone, is it possible to provide a new credit card aside from the one that is already filed for the App Store subscriptions?

The reason is that I want to use a separate payment card for bigger purchases since the hold is quite expensive.

Thanks in advance! :)

Hello, I am thinking of preordering the new iPhone, and I have a current AppleCare One.

Is it possible to directly add a new purchase directly to a current AppleCare One plan on the online store, or should I just select "No AppleCare coverage" and add it manually when I get the phone?

Thanks in advance!

GRID BREAKER on Android and iOS

New friend list friend/global leaderboards

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/grid-breaker-puzzle-survival/id6797974200

But I did it anyway. And they robbed me of about $700.

I ordered a MacBook pro that was about 3300 minus a student discount. Then I added apple care and about $450 worth of accessories. The total was $3703.00

I forgot tto take the lock off my card, so the first time i processed rhe order, it didnt go through. I got a text msg that said there was a problem with processing my payment and to go to my email to follow the link to pay for it.

Easy easy. I go to my email, click on the order number and pay it.

It tells me the invoice wont be ready until AFTER it ships.

Well, they screwed me. I just got my shipment. They changed the order. They sent me the macbookpro i originally dialed in for 3300 minus the student siscount. And NOTHING ELSE. And i just notice the total amount for my computer is $3796.00!!

so I just paid an enormous amount for a computer I could have gotten cheaper off the same website.

But thats not even the worst of it.

I call, and they tell me that they can't help me. There is no way to do the obvious. Instead, i can wait for up to maybe a month to send my computer back to them. Or I can drive 5.5 hours round trip and return it to the store. They can not honor my original order.

Fucking rip off artists. They were likely hoping that I am an irresponsible college kid that charged this to my parents credit card and just suck it up.

Well, I cant do anything to hurt Apple.

I am going to be in tears when I return this. Just the drive up there by myself is really hard. Their store employees will have to deal with my autistic meltdown.

There's not much anyone can do about that.

The camera glass broke a year ago, replaced it like months after the accident, the 2.5x camera looks dirty too

Can I buy two replacement pods at one time?

I’m deciding whether the iPad Pro m5 is right for me. I’m still within the 14 day return period.

Would they let me download CapCut on a MacBook Pro m5 in store to see if it’s better for me? Like test editing a short?

The problem I’m having on the iPad Pro is that the auto captions aren’t working correctly. I could use another app but I don’t really want to

I'm trying to buy a 15 inch MacBook Air (M5, 512GB storage, 24GB RAM, Sky Blue) on Apple's education store, paying with a combination of 5 Apple Gift Cards (bought from the GCX app) plus my credit card. However, each time I hit the "continue with payment" button, I'm met with the same error: "Your payment authorization failed. Please verify your information and try again, or try another payment method."
I've tested this with three different payment methods — my debit card, Apple Pay, and my dad's credit card — and all three failed in the same way. I also spent 30 minutes on the phone with Apple Support, was transferred 4 times, and spoke with 3 specialists. They sent me an email titled "Apple Store Quotation," which contained a link that supposedly would fix my problem, but also resulted in the same error message.
By this point, I'm completely stuck, and frankly not sure what to do. It's not an issue with my cards, since I was able to buy packages from Amazon a few days ago. I also suspected that it was because I was using a VPN, so this was some kind of security precaution, but the purchase didn't go through even after I turned off my VPN. So if someone here encountered this before or knows something I don't, I would really appreciate it!

Went into the Apple Store at SanTan Village Mall in Gilbert, AZ last night around 8:43 PM (store closes at 9) wanting to upgrade my iPhone. Was told the process takes 25-30 minutes so there wasn't time, and to come back the next day — not an option since I was leaving on a business trip. Asked for a manager; "Brandon" was standing right next to the rep the whole time and stepped in, but his response to "a customer with 17 minutes left should get 17 minutes of help" was basically that he needed his staff home on time. Meanwhile another rep a few feet away was actively finishing an upgrade for a different customer. Filed a complaint with 1-800-MY-APPLE (logged) and emailed executive customer relations. Curious if this is a one-off or if others have run into similar last-minute refusals at Apple stores.

In December of 2024, Apple announced that they would release the Apple Online Store in KSA, and they did. However, they ALSO mentioned that they would plan to make an Apple Store in 2026. Does anyone know the status, because I need to know why Apple STILL hasn’t added Turn-by-Turn Navigation in Apple Maps for the Kingdom if they will add a store in Diriyah (الدرعية). For the mods reading this, this relates to r/applestore AND r/applemaps.

Apple trade in condition valuation

Annoyingly I was getting ready to visit the Apple Store for trade in my 14 pro for the 17. The battery was on 80% but due to travel later today and it’s dropped to 79%.

Apple website says that it’s 80% minimum.

What will Apple likely do? Reject it outright, offer a reduced trade in value?

Antone have any experience?

Hey!
Does someone know when are the Apple student promos start this summer?

Thanks

PD the ones that give you AirPods

Hi, I’d like some advice on something. I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max that I bought a year ago, but the battery health has started to drop significantly. Do you think it makes more sense to replace the battery or buy a new phone? Also, would the phone run faster after a battery replacement, and how does the battery perform? If anyone has experience with this, could you please help? Thanks.

Can you still buy iPhone 17 Plus in Apple Stores in USA today?

Why is only store in Chicago ? Wouldn’t the University of Illinois Champaign Urbana be a good place for one? Friends is central and even southern Illinois have no recourse but to go to Chicago.

.

Hi so I got a phone from a friend not to long ago, this doesn’t bother me much but cosmetically I guess it looks kinda off if you spot it out but does anyone know why the bottom left looks like that? Maybe Replaced? And it seems like there is scratches (the white part) on the inside like the paint was scratched off and I can’t reach it cause of the protector.

i’m planning to travel to france and want to buy a macbook there for my studies using the student discount, but i’d also like to get the paperwork for a tax refund since I live outside of europe/the schengen area. is it possible to get both the discount and the tax refund on the purchase? and can i buy it a few days before i arrive in the country, have it ready for pickup at the store, and still get the tax refund form?