Tell the most amazing Apple related story from your life

[spiffers]

Ill start with mine:

I had the original iPhone, and I was really happy with it. At the time I was working as head of HSE for a security company. One day I lost the damn thing down the gangway when entering a ship. So I was pretty bummed my nice phone was gone to the fritz, and I had to use my old HTC Titan II. With Windows whateveritwascalled. So, when I woke on my birthday, my kids presented me with a box. It was the brand new iPhone 4. Retina, and god knows what else. Man, that was the ultimate phone! I was so happy!
So, after a while, WWDC came, and I had a dev account, so I got the first beta of iOS 6. Installed it on the phone, and it lost service after a minute or two. I asked for help through Apple Care, but since I had installed a beta, they asked me to file a radar. After this I went through the same dance a couple of times. I filed a radar, and before I got an answer, I got another beta update. Same ****, the cell radio worked for a minute, and afterwards no more cell coverage. New radar, same again, new beta and so on. I actually never got an answer from any of the filed radars or updates to it. I also filed a special tech support case thats only available for developers, but they told me to contact the Apple Care Team. Well, there I got no help, so what to do?
Anyway, after the final iOS 6 came out, my phone still did not work. I just got myself a iPhone 4s, and forgot about the 4. It was just stored in a drawer.
Around this time Steve Jobs died. Up till now I had seen from time to time that Steve had answered "disgruntled" fans, and after some time I read in MacRumors that Tim had taken up that tradition. I gave it a shot, and wrote Tim the same story I told you guys now. I did not hear anything from him, or anybody else. Until...
So, a couple of months after the iPhone 5s was released, I got a call from the Apple Care Support Team. They asked me if I could send them my iPhone 4. Ofcourse, I did not use the piece of crap, it was buried down somewhere in my drawer, and was not working. So I got an address, sent the piece of shait to it, and did not expect anything more. But a couple of days later, a brand new iPhone 5s showed up on my door. I called Apple Care, and asked why I got the phone. They told me someone "way up in the system" had told them to give me that phone. The person sent me an email, and when I got it, I almost got an heart attack. It was my original email to Tim. He had forwarded it to the iPhone Hardware Engineering team, with just two words:
"Fix this!"

 

[LoveToMacRumors]

Ill start with mine:

I had the original iPhone, and I was really happy with it. At the time I was working as head of HSE for a security company. One day I lost the damn thing down the gangway when entering a ship. So I was pretty bummed my nice phone was gone to the fritz, and I had to use my old HTC Titan II. With Windows whateveritwascalled. So, when I woke on my birthday, my kids presented me with a box. It was the brand new iPhone 4. Retina, and god knows what else. Man, that was the ultimate phone! I was so happy!
So, after a while, WWDC came, and I had a dev account, so I got the first beta of iOS 6. Installed it on the phone, and it lost service after a minute or two. I asked for help through Apple Care, but since I had installed a beta, they asked me to file a radar. After this I went through the same dance a couple of times. I filed a radar, and before I got an answer, I got another beta update. Same ****, the cell radio worked for a minute, and afterwards no more cell coverage. New radar, same again, new beta and so on. I actually never got an answer from any of the filed radars or updates to it. I also filed a special tech support case thats only available for developers, but they told me to contact the Apple Care Team. Well, there I got no help, so what to do?
Anyway, after the final iOS 6 came out, my phone still did not work. I just got myself a iPhone 4s, and forgot about the 4. It was just stored in a drawer.
Around this time Steve Jobs died. Up till now I had seen from time to time that Steve had answered "disgruntled" fans, and after some time I read in MacRumors that Tim had taken up that tradition. I gave it a shot, and wrote Tim the same story I told you guys now. I did not hear anything from him, or anybody else. Until...
So, a couple of months after the iPhone 5s was released, I got a call from the Apple Care Support Team. They asked me if I could send them my iPhone 4. Ofcourse, I did not use the piece of crap, it was buried down somewhere in my drawer, and was not working. So I got an address, sent the piece of shait to it, and did not expect anything more. But a couple of days later, a brand new iPhone 5s showed up on my door. I called Apple Care, and asked why I got the phone. They told me someone "way up in the system" had told them to give me that phone. The person sent me an email, and when I got it, I almost got an heart attack. It was my original email to Tim. He had forwarded it to the iPhone Hardware Engineering team, with just two words:
"Fix this!"

Screenshot the email

 

[SoggyCheese]

Not really an iPhone story, but.....

The screen on my nearly three year old but still under AppleCare 17" iMac G5 developed a vertical pink line that wouldn't go away. I took it into the Apple Store on Regent St., and they said they'd repair it. Two days later they called me and said that they couldn't source a new 17" screen, so would I like a brand new 20" Intel iMac instead as a replacement.

Unsurprisingly I said yes

 

[eyoungren]

First story…

Cracked the screen on my 6+. Took it to Apple. It was jailbroken and the Apple 'Genius' wanted me to restore. Fine, whatever. Knowing full well that restoring my jailbroken iPhone would cause a bootloop I allowed her to restore it. Apple's problem at this point. This is at the release of iOS 9.

Come back an hour later and they have a brand new 6+ for me. Phone was in a bootloop and they couldn't figure it out so they gave me a new 6+ for the price of the screen replacement. They did this because they placed the bootloop blame on iOS 9.

Story 2.

May of this year, take two iPhone 5's to Apple for replacement. Swelling batteries. These are Sprint iPhone 5's forever locked to Sprint.

Or so I thought. When I get the replacements back I am given the opportunity to choose my carrier. I am not a Verizon customer, but I know that all their LTE capable devices are unlocked - so I chose Verizon.

BAM! Both Sprint iPhones are fully unlocked! Both are currently getting 4G speeds on T-Mobile.

 

[Applejuiced]

I don't have an extraordinary experience in mind but every time I needed to visit various Apple Stores in my area I was treated very well, cordial, professional and they always go the extra mile to keep a customer happy. Easy to get to, quick appointment setup online and I'm in and out quick.
That's one of the reasons I am a repeat customer.

 

[EugW]

I sat in an Apple Store waiting to get something. I asked a couple of times and the reps there told me to sit in a specific spot. I waited and nothing was happening so I asked again. Got the same answer. Waited again, and again nothing was happening. After about an hour of waiting I asked again and got the same answer, but after persisting with more questioning I found out I wasn't actually in the queue. Somebody had checked me in but had neglected to fully check me in, so the people dealing with us didn't know I was there.

What a waste of time, and I wasn't surprised either, because it was so much more disorganized than the way the stores worked years before.

So I emailed Tim Cook, who was the master of Apple's supply chain, and supposedly an organizational mastermind, telling him politely that his stores are a disorganized mess. I also said I didn't want any compensation.

I got a cc'd email message shortly afterwards from Tim Cook telling his underlings to do something about it, and then a few days later I got a phone call from a sheepish Apple Store manager promising they were going to review all their protocols and reassess their practices. Again, I reiterated I wanted no compensation, but said I just hoped that they really would reassess everything. I don't know if my letter had any affect on this, but I do note that a while later, they again revamped the way they dealt with customers in stores.

 

[mpavilion]

**WARNING: fairly gross story ahead**

I visited an Apple Store a few months ago, to buy a case for my new 7+. As I walked in along the wall, a dude was walking out through the center of the sales floor... casually vomiting huge streams of chocolate-milkshake–like barf all over the pristine interior of the store. (The guy seemed calm but "messed up"... drunk, on medication, who knows.)

Everyone in the store stood frozen, in a stunned silence. The stench from the vomit slowly began to drift outward to fill the room. The employees huddled awkwardly; one of them went through a side door, to find cleaning equipment.

I still wanted my case(!) — but quickly. I didn't see the 7+ cases with the others along the wall, so I (nicely) asked a sales woman, who had just come out of the employee huddle, where they were kept. We chatted about the incident; turns out she had been helping the guy when he became "ill." She told me they if he his first "emission" had just a bit further in one direction, it would have hit her...

She was clearly shaken, and didn't try to hide it ("Years of retail, I've never experienced anything like this")... but she was very friendly, retained her composure, and pointed me toward the 7+ cases on the opposite wall. After grabbing one, I didn't see another employee available; so I walked back across the floor (holding my breath) to the same sales woman. She gracefully helped me complete my transaction, and wished me a good evening. ("I'm sure it'll be better than yours," I said, wincing. She laughed, nodded, and rolled her eyes.)

When Apple sent me an email the following week, asking for feedback on my experience with that salesperson, I briefly summarized this situation; and explained how remained calm and professional, providing great customer service, even in that very unpleasant moment.

 

[bopajuice]

Can't tell you how many times I've walked into an Apple Store with an issue and walked out with a brand new replacement.... well I could if I could remember....

 

[Jimmy James]

I bought a MacBook in 2008. Still using it.

 

[Fried_Gold]

Ill start with mine:

I had the original iPhone, and I was really happy with it. At the time I was working as head of HSE for a security company. One day I lost the damn thing down the gangway when entering a ship. So I was pretty bummed my nice phone was gone to the fritz, and I had to use my old HTC Titan II. With Windows whateveritwascalled. So, when I woke on my birthday, my kids presented me with a box. It was the brand new iPhone 4. Retina, and god knows what else. Man, that was the ultimate phone! I was so happy!
So, after a while, WWDC came, and I had a dev account, so I got the first beta of iOS 6. Installed it on the phone, and it lost service after a minute or two. I asked for help through Apple Care, but since I had installed a beta, they asked me to file a radar. After this I went through the same dance a couple of times. I filed a radar, and before I got an answer, I got another beta update. Same ****, the cell radio worked for a minute, and afterwards no more cell coverage. New radar, same again, new beta and so on. I actually never got an answer from any of the filed radars or updates to it. I also filed a special tech support case thats only available for developers, but they told me to contact the Apple Care Team. Well, there I got no help, so what to do?
Anyway, after the final iOS 6 came out, my phone still did not work. I just got myself a iPhone 4s, and forgot about the 4. It was just stored in a drawer.
Around this time Steve Jobs died. Up till now I had seen from time to time that Steve had answered "disgruntled" fans, and after some time I read in MacRumors that Tim had taken up that tradition. I gave it a shot, and wrote Tim the same story I told you guys now. I did not hear anything from him, or anybody else. Until...
So, a couple of months after the iPhone 5s was released, I got a call from the Apple Care Support Team. They asked me if I could send them my iPhone 4. Ofcourse, I did not use the piece of crap, it was buried down somewhere in my drawer, and was not working. So I got an address, sent the piece of shait to it, and did not expect anything more. But a couple of days later, a brand new iPhone 5s showed up on my door. I called Apple Care, and asked why I got the phone. They told me someone "way up in the system" had told them to give me that phone. The person sent me an email, and when I got it, I almost got an heart attack. It was my original email to Tim. He had forwarded it to the iPhone Hardware Engineering team, with just two words:
"Fix this!"

https://www.reddit.com/r/thatHappened/

No but really, do you still have the email?

 

[Ghost31]

My first experience ever with apple was the very first iPhone. I was blown away by that keynote Steve Jobs put on to the point where I was selling all my stuff just so I could get it. I remember selling my Xbox 360 at the time and my tv just so I could be one of the first people to get it. And when I did, wow. Couldn't believe how BIG that 3.5 inch screen was and it was so smooth! I couldn't get over how unlike anything else it was. It felt like something out of a sci-fi movie or something with all the gestures and sensors in it and what not. Before that, phones were just all like...blackberries. We had these tiny phones with tiny plastic keyboards like blackberries and sidekicks and there was never anything exciting to look at. It was just so blah. Back in those days. There was never really a new phone to get excited about. You just bought a new phone if your old one broke. That's it. There weren't huge advances every year. Hell. I remember touch screens back then were crap and you had to use them with styluses. It was such boring technology.

Then it was the halo effect all the way around over the years later on. I JUST had the iPhone for awhile and enjoyed it and just the fact that apple seemed like such a different company than everybody else and treated me well. I gave other stuff a try. Apple TV, iPad, mac, Apple Watch. It just spread like an infection with no cure I had to have everything. And I'm so deep in their ecosystem with apps and iTunes purchases (300 movies) that I can't imagine ever leaving. The only thing I'm kinda done with right now as far as apple is concerned is mac. After having the iPad Pro since its launch, I just don't care to use Mac OS or any desktop os for that matter. I don't feel like I'm sacrificing anything with my ipad and iPhone set up. I actually prefer it to the old school systems way of doing things where you had a fixed keyboard and mouse

And with everything I've seen, I don't see myself abandoning apple and moving onto anybody else. I'm more than happy. Especially when iOS 11 drops!

 

[d5aqoëp]

I smuggled 8 iPhones from one country to another without getting caught.

 

[Flynnstone]

I bought a 2007 refurb MacBook for kids at Christmas. It had a problem with track pad. Mostly worked but some areas didn't. Called Apple. They put me in hold briefly , came back and said engineering wanted that MacBook and was it ok to send a brand new latest version as the replacement. No surprise , I accepted. 2or 3 days later , brand new MacBook arrived. Awesome experience.

 

[Applejuiced]

I smuggled 8 iPhones from one country to another without getting caught.

Do I dare to ask where you stuck them?

 

[EugW]

Had a problem with 2009 iMac 27". Took it in.

They couldn't repair it and bought me a new 2010. Except it came with 4 GB RAM, and I had mentioned I had 4 GB stock RAM and 4 GB aftermarket RAM. Total 4 x 2 GB. They took it back and ordered me a new one with 2 x 4 GB RAM for a total of 8 GB with two slots free. It also came with a new mouse and keyboard so now I had two of each. And they also removed the old iMac's drive and handed it to me complete with the iMac drive bracket.

I added 4 GB RAM to that iMac for a total of 12 GB, and have used until now as my primary desktop. Now it has been converted into a monitor, to match my 2017 iMac with 24 GB RAM:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/dual-imacs.2052555/#post-24790730

Below is my Core i7 12 GB monitor.

 

[JohnApples]

When the iPhone 6 came out, I was first in line to get one. I waited to open it until I got home- which was a big mistake.

Upon turning on my screen, I realized that the color was oh so slightly tinted orange. This was unacceptable. I immediately drove 30 mins to the Apple Store and exchanged it for a new one. Everything seemed fine until later that day, I had noticed that a pixel in the corner seemed to be slightly dimmer than the rest.

Now furious, I drove all the way back, got yet a new phone, and went home. Lo and behold- suddenly I noticed the Lock button's clicky sound was half a decibel quieter than my previous one. This went on for roughly 12 more times before I got fed up and hopped on the computer.

I wrote Tim directly and told him about the horrible experience I had and how disappointed I was with these so called "premium products". I didn't expect anything to happen, but about 5 months later I received a FaceTime call from... Tim Cook!! I was so shocked that I almost dropped my phone.

I answer the call and there he is in all his glory. He says "Hey JohnApples, I've got something for you. Come outside." He hung up after that and I nervously opened my front door to see...

Tim and all of the Apple execs were standing on my front lawn playing music and hanging out! I couldn't speak so Tim hands me a box and inside is the most perfect iPhone I've ever seen. Not a single thing wrong with it- I checked under my microscope. He tells me that they save the "good" models for all the execs; but he felt so bad after the experience I had that he wanted me to have one from his collection. Not only that, but he gave me a gas card to reimburse me for all the driving I did!

I could barely mutter out a "thank you", and before I knew it we were all hanging out, dancing, and having a good time. People from all over he neighborhood joined in and it went on all night! I will never forget that day.

And for all you naysayers: I did get a video.

But really, it'd have to be that whenever I go to the store without an appointment, they somehow manage to squeeze me in no matter how busy they are.

 

[imanidiot]

Ill start with mine:

I had the original iPhone, and I was really happy with it. At the time I was working as head of HSE for a security company. One day I lost the damn thing down the gangway when entering a ship. So I was pretty bummed my nice phone was gone to the fritz, and I had to use my old HTC Titan II. With Windows whateveritwascalled. So, when I woke on my birthday, my kids presented me with a box. It was the brand new iPhone 4. Retina, and god knows what else. Man, that was the ultimate phone! I was so happy!
So, after a while, WWDC came, and I had a dev account, so I got the first beta of iOS 6. Installed it on the phone, and it lost service after a minute or two. I asked for help through Apple Care, but since I had installed a beta, they asked me to file a radar. After this I went through the same dance a couple of times. I filed a radar, and before I got an answer, I got another beta update. Same ****, the cell radio worked for a minute, and afterwards no more cell coverage. New radar, same again, new beta and so on. I actually never got an answer from any of the filed radars or updates to it. I also filed a special tech support case thats only available for developers, but they told me to contact the Apple Care Team. Well, there I got no help, so what to do?
Anyway, after the final iOS 6 came out, my phone still did not work. I just got myself a iPhone 4s, and forgot about the 4. It was just stored in a drawer.
Around this time Steve Jobs died. Up till now I had seen from time to time that Steve had answered "disgruntled" fans, and after some time I read in MacRumors that Tim had taken up that tradition. I gave it a shot, and wrote Tim the same story I told you guys now. I did not hear anything from him, or anybody else. Until...
So, a couple of months after the iPhone 5s was released, I got a call from the Apple Care Support Team. They asked me if I could send them my iPhone 4. Ofcourse, I did not use the piece of crap, it was buried down somewhere in my drawer, and was not working. So I got an address, sent the piece of shait to it, and did not expect anything more. But a couple of days later, a brand new iPhone 5s showed up on my door. I called Apple Care, and asked why I got the phone. They told me someone "way up in the system" had told them to give me that phone. The person sent me an email, and when I got it, I almost got an heart attack. It was my original email to Tim. He had forwarded it to the iPhone Hardware Engineering team, with just two words:
"Fix this!"

Wow. Awesome. Almost makes me want to be less hard on Tim.
Seriously, that's a great story.

 

[d5aqoëp]

Do I dare to ask where you stuck them?

Come on. You already know where.

 

[ArtVandelay29]

I bought a MacBook in 2008. Still using it.

My 2010 MBP still runs like a champ.