This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple Store Genius who answers all your questions about working at an Apple Store. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.
This week our Genius answers why the iPhone screen can be repaired in stores while the iPad has to be shipped away from special care. We also discuss whether working at the Apple Store can be turned into a solid career, plus the top 5 most annoying things customers do at the Apple Store.
Got a question you want the inside scoop on? Send us your questions and the answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.
Q: What you are never allowed to say to customers?
Employees are taught not to use certain words that might tarnish the image of the brand. We are constantly in a struggle to portray Apple as positively as possible so that our customers return to buy from us again.
Here’s an idea of some of guidance I received when going through training.
- Never say “crash,” instead say “quit unexpectedly.”
- Your iPhone isn’t “frozen,” it’s “unresponsive.”
- Your MacBook did not crash, it “powered off unexpectedly.”
- it’s not a “bug,” it’s a “software issue.”
- Never say “unfortunately,” use something to portray the situation in a better light like, “as it turns out.”
- Instead of saying the iPhone is incompatible with something we are supposed to say it does not work with…
Q: Is there a central management tool I can use to manage multiple Apple TVs on the same network?
Unfortunately, there’s not right now, but I wouldn’t rule it out in the future. The Apple TV was called a “hobby” for years until 12 months or so ago when Captain Cook said TV is an area of intense interest. Apple hasn’t made any big changes to the Apple TV for years now. I suspect Apple will release some big new features for Apple TV in 2014, but I don’t have any insider knowledge about it.
Q: Why does Apple not want customers to jailbreak iPhones? Have often do people bring in jailbroken iPhones for support?
Modifications made to iOS can cause security vulnerabilities, instability, shortened battery life, and other issues. The iPhone is different than many other devices in that it has a closed file system which means you can’t browse the files on your iPhone like you would on a Mac. It is set up this way to be more secure from malware and to prevent viruses or bugs.
Jailbreaking the iPhone opens up this file system in a way allowing apps to be installed outside of the app store and allowing changes to the functionality of the iPhone software. While this can mean opening your iPhone up to a whole new set of features, it can also mean losing the protection of Apple’s walled garden.
Jailbroken devices aren’t too common in the Apple Store as most people have learned to restore devices to Apple’s software before service. Every once in a while I find an iPhone running the forbidden software. Usually it means just restoring the iPhones software back to the most current update. Occasionally, we deny service if issues arise from the unauthorized modification.
