5 Secrets Only Apple Store Employees Know

Some people treat Apple almost like a cult. More than a company trying to sell its hardware and services, there are several customers who literally engrave the company logo, its processors and the famous phrases of its founder, Steve Jobs, into their skin. As Apple tries to keep more and more of its users in its ecosystem, a large part of it also offers a great experience through its Apple Store. After all, the Apple Store is the main gateway to the Apple world, and it’s only natural that customers want to know what’s going on behind the curtains. Do they know what Apple will launch next? Can they buy Apple products at a discount? Do they treat us differently from other stores?

There are some secret answers to these questions that only Apple Store employees know. Every once in a while, a former employee takes to social media or speaks to a reporter to provide insight into what it’s like to work for Apple and the connection between them and their customers. Even though Apple itself does not publicly acknowledge these details, they can be found through leaks and some reported stories.

Here are some secrets customers shouldn’t know about Apple, its stores and more, but they’ll give you a better understanding of what it’s like to be part of one of the most valuable companies in the world.

If you live in an area where the Apple Store is available, this may be where you buy your new iPhone, new MacBook, accessories, and more. Even though Apple itself has expanded its presence on marketplaces like Amazon and is widely available through third-party sellers, many people still go to Apple to purchase their technology products. According to this former Apple Retail employee, if you’re looking for an iPad or MacBook, you should check out Best Buy and other third-party marketplaces because they offer better prices, especially before new releases.

For example, if you are considering upgrading your iPhone but are not interested in the latest version, third-party sellers offer the best trade-in values ​​in September due to the launch of the new iPhone. So if you’re planning to pick up an existing model like the iPhone 16 or iPhone 17 before the iPhone 18 comes out, taking a look at deals between now and late August or early September could save you a few hundred dollars, since you can still choose the different colors and storage options until Apple announces its shiny new device.

Apple products are expensive and Apple very rarely offers discounts or promotions. Although the best way to get a discounted Apple product is to purchase it from third-party sellers, the company offers a special price to its employees. According to this former Apple Retail employee, Apple offers 25% off to its employees and they can get one product from each category.

That means you could get a new iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV, or AirPods for 25% off every year. Since most people don’t upgrade all of their equipment every year – and employees still have to pay for devices out of pocket – many Apple employees are taking advantage of this perk to gift or gift some of the nicest products to friends and family at a lower price.

If you don’t have a friend or family member who works for Apple, the best way to get a product at a lower price is to use Apple’s education discount, which offers 10% off to students, or take a look at third-party sellers, such as Best Buy, Amazon, Target, etc., which typically offer current and old Apple prices at a better value than Apple itself.

Like us, Apple employees only learn about new products when Apple officially unveils them. However, depending on the occasion, they have access to these devices before us. In the case of the Apple Vision Pro, Apple’s latest push into a new category since AirPods, several retail employees traveled to Cupertino for hands-on training to understand the product, then reported back to their colleagues to help sell it. This was reported by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, and a former Apple Retail employee also said they were trained on the device weeks before people could try it.

While this doesn’t happen with every release, especially when the change is small, like the M2 iPad Air getting the M3 chip and then the M4 processor, some product releases deserve a little more hands-on training, especially a device as complex as the Apple Vision Pro. Apple executive John Ternus, set to become CEO later this year, will be responsible for unveiling several products in new categories. This means that, most likely, Apple Retail employees will also need to familiarize themselves in advance with these devices, such as the iPhone Fold, Apple’s smart glasses, new smart home products and perhaps even the MacBook Pro with touchscreen support.

Imagine going to the Apple Store and telling the retail employee that you want the new “colorful MacBook” or even calling the iPad Air “the lightweight iPad.” Instead of immediately correcting you to let you know that Apple sells the MacBook Neo and iPad Air, employees are instructed to never correct customers’ pronunciation errors. After all, it doesn’t discourage customers from purchasing the product, nor does it make them feel like they’re being patronized.

While Apple tries to be as clear as possible with its branding, sometimes, even with many marketing campaigns, people simply call their devices by whatever name they want. For example, the tenth anniversary iPhone, the iPhone X, is still called “X” today, not “Ten.” Apple is also very strict about how it refers to certain parts of its products. For years, retail employees were instructed to never refer to the top of the iPhone screen as a “notch” but simply as a “cutout.” Then, with the iPhone 14 Pro and later, the company solved this problem by creating the “Dynamic Island.”

Another curious thing about correctly naming parts of an Apple product is that employees shouldn’t call the iPhone’s camera control a button. They can call it a feature, capability, or functionality of the iPhone, but they are asked not to call it a button, because it can do more than a regular button. Classic apple.

Last but not least, Apple Store employees are also trained to never say “no.” According to former employees, they are always required to answer in the affirmative. So if a customer asks if Apple can repair their iPhone screen for free, instead of saying they can’t, they’ll say they can and would like to help replace the screen, and it costs

More interestingly, a 2007 manual includes an acronym for the company name that appears to still be in use today. “A” for “Approach customers with a warm, personalized welcome,” P for “Probe politely to understand all of the customer’s needs,” P for “Present a solution that the customer can take home today,” “L” for “Listen and resolve any issues or concerns,” and “E” for “End with a affectionate farewell and invitation to return.”

Ultimately, unlike most other retail stores, Apple employees are trained to act in a very precise, very polite manner, and also to familiarize the customer with the product they might be purchasing. But most importantly, Apple Retail employees aren’t there to sell you something for the sole purpose of selling you a product, but to give you an experience that will keep you coming back.