Does Apple Retail carry the fully upgraded 11" Air?

[Quad5Ny]

Does anyone know if Apple Retail stores carry the fully upgraded 11" Macbook Air (128 GB SSD, 1.6 GHz C2D & 4 GB of RAM)?

I could give my local store a call, but.. I'm lazy (and its also 6AM in the morning right now).

 

[DreamLand]

I bought mine for an Apple retail store.

 

[DarkAether]

My story...

Called the store and asked whether they had the 11 and 13 models with 4gb upgrades in store, was told yes.

Went to store, spent 30 minutes going back and forth testing 11 vs 13. Finally decided on the 11.

Told clerk # 1 what I wanted. Response was "those can only be ordered online". Relayed what I was told on the phone, they said that this person was obviously mistaken and reiterated 11" w/4gb were online orders only. I said I needed more time to think.

Spent more time agonizing on 11 vs 13 when another clerk came up. Asked the same question, got the same answer, but this one checked with another to make sure. I pointed out the placard on the table that showed the config and price of the fully upgraded model, but was told the same answer. I needed a bit more time....

10 minutes later, clerk #2 comes back and I say I'm ready to buy, but please let me know exactly which configs they have in store to choose from. She gets on the computer and lo and behold, they have the fully upgraded 11 in stock as regular store stock.

Bottom line: Don't take no for an answer unless you see them actually check the inventory system.

 

[Quad5Ny]

I'll ask them to check the inventory if they say its not carried in the store.

Thanks for the story DarkAether, *crosses fingers* I hope its in stock.

 

[ChristianVirtual]

same for me: I wanted a MBA 11" 4GB and 64 GB SSD (as most of the stuff stored on a NAS) but that config my Apple Store didn't had. Being mentally/emotionally a little boy who can't wait I took the 128GB SSD version which they had enough on stock in store. I would say their strategy worked on me

 

[gwsat]

It's clear that many Apple Store employees are unaware of what is actually in the store's inventory. For example, when I first called the Penn Square Apple Store in OKC to inquire about the availability of the 13 inch MBA with 4GB of RAM, a 2.13GHz processor, and 256GB of storage, the clerk I spoke with said the store didn't have that model and wouldn't be getting it.

A few days later I called back and the clerk at the Apple Store told me that they did have that model in stock. I immediately made the short drive to the store in order to buy the MBA I wanted. The clerk I talked with in the Apple Store went to the back of the store to get the right MBA but came back shortly and told me they didn't have that model after all.

The next day I called the Apple Store for the third time. This time, though, I talked to the products manager who assured me he had a box in his hand that contained the MBA I wanted. I had him put my name on the box, went to the store again, and this time was actually able to buy my MBA.

 

[fyrefly]

It's clear that many Apple Store employees are unaware of what is actually in the store's inventory. For example, when I first called the Penn Square Apple Store in OKC to inquire about the availability of the 13 inch MBA with 4GB of RAM, a 2.13GHz processor, and 256GB of storage, the clerk I spoke with said the store didn't have that model and wouldn't be getting it.

While it's *very* true that most Apple Retail employees are just regular retail "mall staff"-types and sometimes not very helpful... in all fairness, the 4GB configs didn't start turning up till almost 2 weeks after the initial launch of the new MBA's.

The staff were probably just regurgitating what they'd been told when the MBA first arrived (and staff were told they would not be getting 4GB models in the stores for the first week or so).

 

[pastormikec]

I bought my full blown 11" MBA at the retail store. They did say, at first, that they didn't carry it—but then went back and brought one out. Also, I called first to make sure that they had one and got the guys name.

 

[applebook]

Another Q --will Apple Stores match edu pricing? It's not a huge difference (just $60 off with 4Gb upgrade), but I'd like to know because it's unlikely most university store has the 4Gb in stock.

 

[DarkAether]

Another Q --will Apple Stores match edu pricing? It's not a huge difference (just $60 off with 4Gb upgrade), but I'd like to know because it's unlikely most university store has the 4Gb in stock.

Yep, they do the discounts in store.

 

[gwsat]

While it's *very* true that most Apple Retail employees are just regular retail "mall staff"-types and sometimes not very helpful... in all fairness, the 4GB configs didn't start turning up till almost 2 weeks after the initial launch of the new MBA's.

The staff were probably just regurgitating what they'd been told when the MBA first arrived (and staff were told they would not be getting 4GB models in the stores for the first week or so).

I merely reported what happened to me when I tried to find a 13 inch Ultimate MBA at a nearby Apple Store. What anyone else makes of that is up to them. In short, I report, you decide.

 

[KPOM]

I merely reported what happened to me when I tried to find a 13 inch Ultimate MBA at a nearby Apple Store. What anyone else makes of that is up to them. In short, I report, you decide.

Should we call you gwsat O'Reilly or Hannity from now on?

When I needed to return my "Ultimate 13" MacBook Air for the wake-from-sleep issue, the rep at the UWS store in Manhattan didn't think they had it in stock and thought I would need to order it, but decided to take a quick look in back and came out with a shrink-wrapped box with a replacement.

My guess is that, long-term, only the "base" configurations will be guaranteed to be in stock, as is usually the case for Apple Stores, but some common custom configurations will also be available.

 

[Consultant]

Go to the displayed pricing thing on the table. They should list the 4gb 11" MBA if they carry it.

While it's *very* true that most Apple Retail employees are just regular retail "mall staff"-types and sometimes not very helpful... in all fairness, the 4GB configs didn't start turning up till almost 2 weeks after the initial launch of the new MBA's.

The staff were probably just regurgitating what they'd been told when the MBA first arrived (and staff were told they would not be getting 4GB models in the stores for the first week or so).

They are suppose to read new notes every day when they get into work.

 

[dmelgar]

While it's *very* true that most Apple Retail employees are just regular retail "mall staff"-types and sometimes not very helpful... in all fairness, the 4GB configs didn't start turning up till almost 2 weeks after the initial launch of the new MBA's.

The staff were probably just regurgitating what they'd been told when the MBA first arrived (and staff were told they would not be getting 4GB models in the stores for the first week or so).

I went to my store a day or two after release and I got the same story, that only the base models were stocked. But then another employee came up and mentioned they also had the ultimate configurations in stock. I didn't buy that day, but at least my store had them in from the start, or pretty darn close to it.

 

[Quad5Ny]

Update: My store had the 'Ultimate' configuration in stock, so I am assuming all the Apple Retail stores now carry the Ultimate 11" config (at least in limited quantities.)