no it's not. that chassis is dated. i can't imagine lugging around a macbook pro 13. no thx. next.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple store steering folks away from MBA.
- Thread starter smeade
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
no it's not. that chassis is dated. i can't imagine lugging around a macbook pro 13. no thx. next.
I recently bought my second iMac and did not give the salesperson time to "sell me" on anything. He started in with the typical questioning I've over heard a hundred times, "What is it you wand to do on your Mac?" and I simply stated I want a base 21" iMac with Apple Care, ring it up.
As always, buyer beware. To be stearing any potential buyer away from the Air, which I believe is the best looking, best performing laptop I have personally seen is a MISTAKE for any Apple salesperson.
As always, buyer beware. To be stearing any potential buyer away from the Air, which I believe is the best looking, best performing laptop I have personally seen is a MISTAKE for any Apple salesperson.
Apple has a very tight supply chain. There is very rarely "enough old stock" left to clean out when refreshes occur.
Have you not noticed the analysts gauging new product releases simply by looking at the average ship time of a product, or based on emails from store employee that says "hey, we barely have any XXXXs in stock"?
For example, from yesterday:
9to5mac: Best Buy runs low on Mac minis and Airport Extremes ahead of possible refreshes (updated)
I can only speak to the specific Apple Store that I worked out, but they all receive pretty much the same corporate communications, and during the years I worked there, they never had us "push" a physical product, period.
And FWIW, virtually everyone I worked with owned a Mac and were enthusiasts about the models they owned. Which is precisely why I think some sales folks will give advice pushing folks away from the Air (which most don't have, thus no countless hours of personal experience) and consider going with a MB or MBP (which virtually all have, and spent countless hours using).
Unless you understand what the person wants to do with their Mac, you can't recommend anything, period.
You're seriously kidding yourself if you think the Air is the best solution for every person looking for an Apple laptop, just because for your needs, it's the best looking (really?) and performing laptop.
Well, nobody knows anything official, but the general buzz on the entire internet is that the Sandy Bridge updates should be coming out very very soon.
If we all "know" that, then it's not unreasonable to believe a salesperson would too, and be willing to advise a customer to wait a bit if they can, just in case.
Speaking from experience, I'd like to echo what another poster above me said. We were never guided to selling specific computers. The only thing we were really measured on was MobileMe/.Mac, AppleCare and One-to-One.
I encountered a whole bunch of people during my time there. Some knew exactly what they wanted. I was more than happy to get it for them right away without a word. Most people needed more help in determining the right model for them. Most of what we were taught involved listening to what they had to say and presenting them with a solution that best fit the customer's needs. If I happened to steer a customer away from their first impression (such as a MacBook Air), I always had a good reason for doing so, but I never forced my opinion on anyone and left the final purchasing decision to the customer.
We (even though I'm no longer with Apple retail, I still consider myself "one of them"), but we aren't all the hipster type you'd assume. I'm pretty nerdy and pride myself on actually caring about the technical aspects of the computers themselves more than the "Apple Hipster Image". Even some of the Apple Hipster's at my store were pretty knowledgeable too.
As far as speculating on update cycles, however, that was seriously discouraged and could get you fired. I had to delete a tweet that mentioned that I was excited waiting for the iPhone 3G before its announcement. The official policy was (and probably still is) "if it's on apple.com, you can talk about it." Otherwise you were supposed to say that you really had no idea. That didn't stop us from talking about it in the back room, though.
I encountered a whole bunch of people during my time there. Some knew exactly what they wanted. I was more than happy to get it for them right away without a word. Most people needed more help in determining the right model for them. Most of what we were taught involved listening to what they had to say and presenting them with a solution that best fit the customer's needs. If I happened to steer a customer away from their first impression (such as a MacBook Air), I always had a good reason for doing so, but I never forced my opinion on anyone and left the final purchasing decision to the customer.
We (even though I'm no longer with Apple retail, I still consider myself "one of them"), but we aren't all the hipster type you'd assume. I'm pretty nerdy and pride myself on actually caring about the technical aspects of the computers themselves more than the "Apple Hipster Image". Even some of the Apple Hipster's at my store were pretty knowledgeable too.
As far as speculating on update cycles, however, that was seriously discouraged and could get you fired. I had to delete a tweet that mentioned that I was excited waiting for the iPhone 3G before its announcement. The official policy was (and probably still is) "if it's on apple.com, you can talk about it." Otherwise you were supposed to say that you really had no idea. That didn't stop us from talking about it in the back room, though.
If these customers were replacing a current computer and that would be their only machine, I would definitely steer them towards the pro rather than the air. The example of that student, I would have definitely suggested a pro instead of an air. While your computing needs might not be that much the space afforded by a replaceable drive would be much better.
This means nothing, IMHO.
Last time I walked into the dreaded Apple Store on Boylston St in Boston, the Apple salesperson couldn't shut up about how great the MBA is, including it having a "unique SSD technology". I did tell the foreign kid that you can put an SSD in any laptop and not to buy a computer because it comes standard with an SSD. The salesperson responded, even more vigilant this time, saying "yes, but it's more expensive to upgrade", blah blah.
The point: Don't think too much into it.
Maybe it's because the Air is overpriced for outdated technology!!! Especially, with an update coming out anyday now! I know I would steer most people to the pro too. I would feel bad for selling an old product for that price to someone!
No its because the people that work at the stores are not usually uber nerds lets be honest the average mac user could sell these things the product line is so simple. The problem is the people in the store still think no dvd drive and the fact that it has a slower processor than the MBP means its useless.
Some 60yr old dude(salesman) tried to tell me when I bought my Rev B that it was useless because it didn't have a dvdrom drive.
I can say the Rev D is the best computer(not just laptop) I've owned, of course I'm not uber gamer spec boy.
Some 60yr old dude(salesman) tried to tell me when I bought my Rev B that it was useless because it didn't have a dvdrom drive.
I can say the Rev D is the best computer(not just laptop) I've owned, of course I'm not uber gamer spec boy.
The difference between "hipster types" and "nerds". I don't see much of a difference, especially by someone who is a self-proclaimed "nerd" and not an "apple hipster".
There is definitely a difference. Nerds are rarely fawning, smug cretins that know nothing about anything and mask it with personality.
Hipsters, on the other hand, are just that.
You can tell them apart in the Stores a mile off.
Hipsters, spend their lives trying to look as cool as they can to everyone and anyone who'll listen. They do not have the faculty of self-deprecation. For a hipster to label themselves a nerd, particularly in earshot of another human being, they would have to be in the midst of a deep-rooted existential crisis.
salesperson (in head): "Thank god I didn't have to give another 30-minute "This is iLife" demonstration again, that would have been the 10th one today".
I just order everything online.
I remember once I ordered a MacBook Air over the phone. The guy kept trying to sell me the 4GB RAM upgrade (which I intended to get anyway, but I played along). Basically he kept saying how much I'd need the extra RAM, so I said something along the lines of why does Apple sell the machine with 2GB RAM in the first place then?
It's like the PC World/Best Buy salesman who tells you how awesome the computer is, then tries to sell you Norton because otherwise your PC will fall over in an instant.
Do your research online, order online, and ignore those who think they know what they're talking about just because it says Genius on the back of their shirt. If they knew half as much as they think about computers they wouldn't be working for minimum wage in a retail store.
I remember once I ordered a MacBook Air over the phone. The guy kept trying to sell me the 4GB RAM upgrade (which I intended to get anyway, but I played along). Basically he kept saying how much I'd need the extra RAM, so I said something along the lines of why does Apple sell the machine with 2GB RAM in the first place then?
It's like the PC World/Best Buy salesman who tells you how awesome the computer is, then tries to sell you Norton because otherwise your PC will fall over in an instant.
Do your research online, order online, and ignore those who think they know what they're talking about just because it says Genius on the back of their shirt. If they knew half as much as they think about computers they wouldn't be working for minimum wage in a retail store.
There are several anecdotes of similar experiences in the comments to today's story on retail training: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1170734/ Folks do their research ahead of time, are ready to plop down cash on MBA's, only to be aggressively steered to lower-priced MBPs.
Thanks. Couldn't have said it better myself.
Aristobrat, The "2-minute rides" keep that from happening too much. The only thing I had to do 10+ times in a 4-hour shift was ask all of the tweens and teens playing on FB if they had any questions.
In my experience, reps don't really know much about the machines they're selling. Trying to get a solid recommendation from them is counter productive. You're much better off asking a few questions here at the forums and then place your order online.
I'd say the sales rep should in fact do just that, say a customer comes in with the desire to buy a mac mini, wouldn't it be a shame if only those 700 dollars were put into apple's pockets? - Best case scenario would be if that specific customer came walking out of the store with a mac pro (server edition), and a trolley full of software suites.
In this case the sales rep would be "trolling" since he did his job and drilled into the deeper ends of the customer's pockets.
- My take on a semi/severely retarded post, thank you.
I did not want them recommending anything to me. I already knew what I wanted.
When did i every say it was the best solution for everyone?
Yes I do think that the Air is one sweet looking laptop and considering what's inside, it's VERY fast and with features like its low weight, instant wake, and long battery life if someone comes in WANTING that why should an Apple Specialist steer them away?
my take on a semi/severely retarded reply to my post;
if a customer, such as myself, goes into the apple store and says they'd like the base 11 inch macbook air and the sales rep tries to sell me a macbook pro but I am insisting on the macbook air, they should not pester me after they've suggested the upsale once already. That's common courtesy as well as good customer-sales rep etiquette. As a matter of fact, if you've ever worked for apple, in the training this is emphasized a lot
. but i doubt you have a job dealing with others since you are quite the *******.