Lots of people are scratching their heads over Apple’s iPhone 4S announcement. Did Tim Cook and co. drop the ball? Or is the outlandish iPhone 5 rumor mill to blame for such high expectations?
Regardless of the what you think about the iPhone 4S, Apple certainly knows what it thinks. In fact, you can see exactly how Apple retail employees are being instructed to pitch the iPhone 4S to customers.
The guys over at 9to5Mac got their hands on internal docs for all of the products that Apple introduced at its event yesterday. This way, you can memorize how store workers plan to pitch you the 4S. If they forget a step, we recommend kindly reminding them.
“O, I’m sorry, but aren’t you supposed to show me the camera features next?”
Alex Heath is a journalist who works for Tech Insider. He’s the former co-host of The CultCast. He has been quoted by the likes of the BBC, KRON 4 News, and books like “ICONIC: A Photographic Tribute to Apple Innovation.” He lives in Lexington, Kentucky. If you want to pitch a story, share a tip, or just get in touch, additional contact information is available on his personal site. Follow him on Twitter.
40 responses to “Here’s The Spiel Apple Geniuses Are Going To Use To Try To Convince You To Buy An iPhone 4S”
Hey, if I were out of contract on my iP4, heck yeah I’d get an S. However, if a 5 does come out by next October, then that’s better for me. I’ve got many friends still on 3Gs that will move now. It’s a huge jump for them. It’s still a better phone, just not what the rumor mill made us believe was coming. Not Apple’s fault, IMHO.
I agree the hype about the iPhone 5 had left users dissapointed. For me I will stick with the 4 until the 5 is released, I’m quite happy with the functions and speed of it, and I’ll upgrade to the new iOS as soon as it released. If I was upfor renewal, I would upgrade, but mine is not due until October also, so with some luck te iPhone 5 will be available.
So much for Siri coming to Canada. Still not even listed on that doc.
Apple isn’t at fault here. The 5 was never touted or announced. The only people that generated the hyperbole surround the 5 were the blogs like this. Engadget, Gizmodo, BGR etc are the ones to blame. Generated a media hype based on nothing but fresh air. So called ‘close to the source’ mythical people. Don’t get me wrong I have got a 4 and may consider the 4S in December or wait for the next one but will do based on fact not fiction generated by media. All these blogs are disappointed that Apple didn’t release something made up by those blogs. Get over yourselves. Apple are the multi-billion dollar company not the blogs – wonder who has got the right idea?
Every company in the world pitches their products to customers, why wouldn’t Apple want to show off theirs?
I think it’s funny that people think the iPhone 5 will come out next year. If Apple follows the same basic naming pattern the next iPhone will be called the iPhone 6! ;)
Anyone who is disappointed by the announcement of the iPhone 4S, but no iPhone 5 are expecting WAY too much. If you see only the faster dual core processor, you are missing the new features, like Siri, and a much higher quality camera together with some major photo post processing. This is a huge jump that wouldn’t be possible without the faster A5 chip
Considering that Apple Geniuses repair computers, I doubt they’ll be giving any kind of spiel to get customers to get an iPhone 4S.
When I purchase my iPhone 4S, I doubt I’ll even talk to anyone. I’ll just log into the AT&T website, click upgrade my line and purchase the phone online. It will take all of 2 minutes. In two to four days, it will be delivered.
iPhone 3g, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S. iPhone 5 will be next. Not sure where you learnt to count.
If that’s all they’ve got, they’re going to have a lot of trouble moving iPhone 4 owners to the iPhone 4S. I’ve had all of them up until now, but I’m going to sit out this cycle.
too many people have their identies wrapped up having the latest “cool” gadgets these days. get a life, people.
if you are happy with your iPhone 4, sure, wait for the iPhone 5 whenever. only heavy users of the camera for snaps/vids have a compelling reason to update to 4S from the 4. or if you really want to switch carriers (need to see reviews on whether AT&T service improves with the 4S).
those of us with 3GS’ will all update. huge improvement. our contracts are up. for most consumers, you only get a new phone every two years anyway – basically, two model cycles.
all the gadget heads wailing because Apple didn’t give you an iPhone 5 pony for Xmas, just grow up.
all the boo birds/Fandroids banging on the web echo chamber, get ready to eat a huge crow pie when global 4S sales soar.
absolutely right, Apple has these documents for every single product (I have access to them), and so does every company out there, not sure what the big deal is, they’re trying to sell an improved version of a terrific product, this is no HP Touchpad, let’s get some perspective, no one promised you a rose garden (iPhone 5), so quit crying, or vote with your dollars, i.e., don’t buy the 4S
The tone of this article is kind of mean. :\ Plus, Geniuses don’t sell phones; Specialists do.
(1) iPhone (2) iPhone 3G (3) iPhone 3GS (4) iPhone 4 (5) iPhone 4S (6) iPhone 6
Specialists sell things, not Geniuses.
Also, this blog sucks. The writing is often not very good, and there are usually typos and grammatical blunders.
I like that the tone of this article is quite haughty, despite the fact that the author clearly isn’t well-versed in the way that an Apple store really works. Specialists (not Geniuses) are never trained to “convince” or “pitch” devices to customers–the devices sell themselves. Alex, good job on getting such exclusive information (from a competent source)–you’ve got those Geniuses all figured out now!
Why Alex did you take a douche pill today or what.
” In fact, you can see exactly how Apple retail employees are being instructed to pitch the iPhone 4S to customers.”
Uh no. You can see the same key facts sheets they make for all new products. No instructions, no pitch.
Apple does show off their stuff. But they don’t do it using this specs verbal dump that Alex and 9to5mac are claiming. They use a more tailored approach of figuring out what would appeal to you and then telling you about those features.
For example, I work in film on projects that are often shouting on two locations at the same time. So if that came up in the conversation they might mention iMessages, email, FaceTime and how the camera now films in 1080p at 30fps.
You on the other hand might reveal that you are more interested in playing music etc so they would talk about sound quality, redownloading music from iTunes, finally being able to make playlists on your iPhone, maybe even seeing if Siri can tell you the next time Lady Gaga is performing near where you live
A teacher might be more interested in 3rd party app support, airplay mirroring etc
It’s a common retail technique called features and benefits. You tell someone that Product X has feature A and that is important because 1, 2, 3. Only with Apple they actually downplay the details of the specs with much of their audience because they don’t know their A5 from the I5, so “it has a great new fast processor that makes all those games Junior loves work even better” is all they need to say.
I don’t think it was as much the blogs that created this huge expectation as it is that we waited almost an extra half-year to the normal schedule and that Apple obviously tried really hard to keep this quiet. For me, that’s what raised my expectations.