| Cult of Mac

Apple Support app gets step-by-step troubleshooting guides

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Apple Support 4.0 runs on iPhone but covers all Apple products and services.
Apple Support 4.0 has a new, customized user interface to highlight info about products you own.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

The official Apple Support iOS app got a facelift, including adding step-by-step guides to fixing common problems. And Dark Mode, too.

The app runs on iPhone or iPad, but offers information on Mac, AirPods and many other Apple products and services.

Apple will answer HomePod owners’ burning questions during live Q&A

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Apple will provide HomePod tech support at a special online event in a few days. Get your questions ready.
Apple will provide HomePod tech support at a special online event in a few days. Get your questions ready.
Photo: Apple

The HomePod is a new product and Apple wants to be sure owners of this smartspeaker are getting all the benefits. That’s why the company scheduled a live chat with HomePod specialists for later this week. It’s open to anyone with questions.

A lot of people get tech support on their electronics from friends, but the $349 HomePod is struggling to compete against the much cheaper Amazon Echo, so many users probably don’t know someone else with this device.

Apple tops tech support rankings for third year in a row

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The Genius Bar is one of the best things about buying a Mac.
The Genius Bar is one of the best things about buying a Mac.
Photo: Apple

If you want to get the absolute best tech support for your laptop, pay the Apple tax and get a Mac.

In the latest annual Tech Support Showdown rankings, Laptop Magazine has awarded Apple the number one spot for the third straight year. Apple beat out nine other companies, but it’s starting to get some serious competition from companies like Acer that are focusing more on online service.

‘Microsoft tech support’ scammer threatens murder in Canada

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A scammer pretending to be a Microsoft employee threatened to murder someone who disbelieved his credentials. Image: WMKY
A scammer pretending to be a Microsoft employee threatened to murder someone who didn't believe his credentials. Photo: WMKY

Apple’s customer service is tops. Go into any Apple Store, and a Genius will be happy to assist you with even the most trivial of technical support problems.

I bet the guy on the other end of a call from an alleged Microsoft tech support guru wished he was talking to an Apple Genius instead. The “support” guy turned out to be a scammer, and when the victim called him out on it, the fake Microsoft agent actually threatened to murder him.

Apple Beats Out Its Own Tech Support Score From Last Year [Report]

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Apple-Genius-Bar
So patient, so knowledgeable. Swoon!

Consumer Reports, the popular magazine and website for figuring out what consumers think about all sorts of products and services, just published its annual reader survey on computer tech support.

Apple not only claimed the top spot in the list this year, beating out all other computer manufacturers, it got an even better score than it did in last year’s survey.

Are People Who Work At Apple Actually Happy?

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Ever wonder what it'd be like to work for Apple at its HQ or elsewhere?
Are the folks working at Apple HQ happy with their jobs?

Are you curious about what it’s like to work for Apple? Here’s a chance for you to find out. Career advice site CareerBliss recently complied a list of the “Happiest Companies For Young Professionals” – a top ten list for which Apple didn’t make the cut. Even though Apple didn’t make that list, CareerBliss does offer a lot of insight into what life is like for Apple employees.

CareerBliss allows people to rank and describe their experiences in their current or past workplaces. Users researching potential jobs and companies can then see overall rankings (based on a one to five ranking scale) and browse through the individual reports. For Apple fans, that means a treasure trove of data about what it’s like to actually work for the company.

I’m the Computer Man – Old Video Parodies Mac Support Techs

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Well here’s something you don’t see every day. I’m the Computer Man is a bizarre, funny parody of Apple Macintosh tech support services. Shot with a 70s disco flavor and sung in Scatman John style, this is one unique Mac related video. Entertaining, in a cloyingly sweet way.

I’m the Macintosh man with the virus scan

Moving your files all across the land

Some Photoshop photos and After Dark

Get your Microsoft Office, XPress your Quark
Millions of colors with a VRAM chip
How about a system crash that will make you flip?

A reader comment on YouTube notes that the video was created by the McCann Erickson Agency IT staff back around 1997. I hope they gave these guys some time off…

Apple Launches Express Lane for Online Tech Support

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Having problems with your Mac or iPod? Apple has just rolled out a new Express Lane for its existing online customer support system that aims to make getting to the root of your troubleshooting woes faster than before.

Express Lane basically streamlines online tech support from Apple. You can easily search through the database to find tech support solutions to existing Apple products, lookup cases that you’ve submitted previously, or register your Apple products by their serial numbers to track their warranty status and be directed to the proper support channels when things do go wrong.