Why Apple Store doesn't provide chair?

[anpaman]

Hi all

Why Apple Store doesn't provide chair ?

I hate during visit apple store must standing try MacBook on the desk. Apple could provide chair at below the display desk.

It comfortable try MacBook while you are sitting. Nobody using their MacBook while standing.

I really can't decide MacBook Air 13 inch or 15 inch is better for me while try it on standing.

 

[theorist9]

Hi all

Why Apple Store doesn't provide chair ?

I hate during visit apple store must standing try MacBook on the desk. Apple could provide chair at below the display desk.

It comfortable try MacBook while you are sitting. Nobody using their MacBook while standing.

I really can't decide MacBook Air 13 inch or 15 inch is better for me while try it on standing.

Apple stores get a lot of traffic. They want visitors to spend, I'm guessing, maybe a few to 10 minutes trying out their devices, and to then move on. If they had chairs, people could get comfortable and linger at the computers for much longer, keeping others from having the chance to try them. Plus the lack of chairs, with everyone on their feet, gives that area of the store a cleaner, more dynamic look.

Even where they do have seating -- at the tables around the Genius Bar -- they offer stools rather than chairs, which aren't as comfortable, and thus encourage people to get up and leave once their business is done, leaving the seating clear for the next wave of customers.

 

[wonderings]

can you imagine how cluttered an Apple Store would be if they had chairs everywhere rolling around? Not sure why you really need to be seated to try out a laptop, the real questions are the screen and speed of the machine and if it does what you need. Do you go anywhere and sit down to try out a computer? Those ergonomics are going to be dependent on your own chair and desk height.

 

[NoBoMac]

Those ergonomics are going to be dependent on your own chair and desk height.

This. Especially since those tables at the store sit higher than the vast majority of desks, normal table tops out there.

For me, would need Apple to unchain the demo units and put in a sofa with a TV tuned to a sporting event, to know how it feels while using it on the couch.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Funny someone brought this up

A couple years ago I went in to test out a laptop for an extended session and I went and snagged a chair from the "help" area.

One of the staff came by and said "that's a good idea!"

Had they given me any grief, I would have asked if they'd prefer I test the laptop and perhaps become a buyer ... or they reclaim the chair and I walk out mostly pissed off

 

[Ray2]

There are 3 desks in my house. All are different heights. No idea what a “standard” height would be.

 

[avro707]

Apple stores get a lot of traffic. They want visitors to spend, I'm guessing, maybe a few to 10 minutes trying out their devices, and to then move on.

You end up waiting 15 minutes (as I did recently) for the person to come out with the machine you want to buy. I didn’t need to look at the demo units, I knew what I wanted and to get in and out as fast as possible.

It would be nice to sit while waiting rather than standing, especially when you have long term injuries as I do.

 

[throAU]

Nobody using their MacBook while standing.

I have a sit-stand desk and regularly use my MacBook whilst standing.

 

[theorist9]

You end up waiting 15 minutes (as I did recently) for the person to come out with the machine you want to buy. I didn’t need to look at the demo units, I knew what I wanted and to get in and out as fast as possible.

It would be nice to sit while waiting rather than standing, especially when you have long term injuries as I do.

Does your local Apple store not have any seating? Every Apple store I've been in does, just not in front of the demo units.

If it does have seating, and given that it's uncomfortable for you to stand, why did you keep standing while you were waiting for them to bring out the unit, instead of pointing to the seats and telling an associate you'd be waiting over there?

 

[G5isAlive]

Funny someone brought this up

A couple years ago I went in to test out a laptop for an extended session and I went and snagged a chair from the "help" area.

One of the staff came by and said "that's a good idea!"

Had they given me any grief, I would have asked if they'd prefer I test the laptop and perhaps become a buyer ... or they reclaim the chair and I walk out mostly pissed off

You omitted what could have been your mic dropping moment, did your 'good idea' result in a sale for Apple? No. It did not. From your previous posts the only real Mac you have personally bought in the last decade (two? ever?) was the recently released m4 Mac mini because a) you conceded what most conceded 5 years ago, the Hackintosh was dead, b) Apple finally got down to your price point. No chair was required for the sale. You certainly didn't test drive one in the store with a chair. Even though you criticized the new form factor, you bought one. That's Apple's mic drop moment. Sale made.

You will say, "I used the word 'perhaps'", but history suggests otherwise. If you had left mad I don't think it would have changed anything at all, including your posts. Regardless, all anecdotal, but a lot of MR arm chair engineers (see what I did there?) seem to make a crusade, or at least a hobby, of criticizing Apple on virtually everything, but to Theorist9's point, Apple optimizes for sales. Apple is a market driven business. That's not bad. That's capitalism.

People complain their stores are too crowded now. Can you imagine if it had less floor space dedicated to the product but more to chairs? More to complain about. Years ago, the first Apple Stores did indeed have more space dedicated to chairs, strange looking ones, but chairs... and people did indeed lounge about on them. If that had translated into sales, Apple would have kept them.

Don't get me wrong, sure I would love to sit on a couch and play with all the shiny new toys. But not at the expense of it being more crowded, less convenient to actually make a purchase and the toys be even more expensive (the cost of maintaining larger stores passes on to the customer)

Apple optimizes for buyers, not tire kickers. Shrugs. Apple didn't become the second most profitable company in the world (behind an oil company) by being as stupid as some would suggest. Good business, results in fun shiny new toys. Win win.

Even if a sales person says 'good idea' to something Apple discarded.

 

[Ray2]

You end up waiting 15 minutes (as I did recently) for the person to come out with the machine you want to buy. I didn’t need to look at the demo units, I knew what I wanted and to get in and out as fast as possible.

It would be nice to sit while waiting rather than standing, especially when you have long term injuries as I do.

Internet, ship to home.

 

[TechnoMonk]

All Apple stores have seating if you are waiting, not just near the demo tables.

 

[TechnoMonk]

You omitted what could have been your mic dropping moment, did your 'good idea' result in a sale for Apple? No. It did not. From your previous posts the only real Mac you have personally bought in the last decade (two? ever?) was the recently released m4 Mac mini because a) you conceded what most conceded 5 years ago, the Hackintosh was dead, b) Apple finally got down to your price point. No chair was required for the sale. You certainly didn't test drive one in the store with a chair. Even though you criticized the new form factor, you bought one. That's Apple's mic drop moment. Sale made.

You will say, "I used the word 'perhaps'", but history suggests otherwise. If you had left mad I don't think it would have changed anything at all, including your posts. Regardless, all anecdotal, but a lot of MR arm chair engineers (see what I did there?) seem to make a crusade, or at least a hobby, of criticizing Apple on virtually everything, but to Theorist9's point, Apple optimizes for sales. Apple is a market driven business. That's not bad. That's capitalism.

People complain their stores are too crowded now. Can you imagine if it had less floor space dedicated to the product but more to chairs? More to complain about. Years ago, the first Apple Stores did indeed have more space dedicated to chairs, strange looking ones, but chairs... and people did indeed lounge about on them. If that had translated into sales, Apple would have kept them.

Don't get me wrong, sure I would love to sit on a couch and play with all the shiny new toys. But not at the expense of it being more crowded, less convenient to actually make a purchase and the toys be even more expensive (the cost of maintaining larger stores passes on to the customer)

Apple optimizes for buyers, not tire kickers. Shrugs. Apple didn't become the second most profitable company in the world (behind an oil company) by being as stupid as some would suggest. Good business, results in fun shiny new toys. Win win.

Even if a sales person says 'good idea' to something Apple discarded.

Apple has lot more products/ sub products compared to 10-15 years ago. I live near a big Apple Store, they kept adding more demo tables, as more products were launched. I don’t usually go there except for Genius Bar. I usually reserve my purchases and pick up.

 

[Ray2]

All Apple stores have seating if you are waiting, not just near the demo tables.

“All”? My Apple Store has no seating. Doing a simple Google Image search shows scores of Apple Stores without seating other than behind the back counter. Only 2 in a page full of images showed seating, one of which would be quite difficult to move seating around and I suspect were in a teaching environment. Mine just moved to a larger space, no seating.

 

[JPack]

The Vision Pro demo area has seating. The “Today at Apple” learning area has seating. Apple just doesn’t want you sitting too long hogging up space at a MacBook.

 

[hg.wells]

They probably also don’t want the stores to become an Internet cafe.

 

[splitpea]

I agree that the tables are way too low for standing. And I’m short af.

 

[TechnoMonk]

“All”? My Apple Store has no seating. Doing a simple Google Image search shows scores of Apple Stores without seating other than behind the back counter. Only 2 in a page full of images showed seating, one of which would be quite difficult to move seating around and I suspect were in a teaching environment. Mine just moved to a larger space, no seating.

Does your store has Vision Pro area? Do they have learning programs? And do they have Genius Bar?

 

[avro707]

Internet, ship to home.

Never with Apple after I last tried to order two GPUs at AUD$15,000. They stuffed around and made excuses (yes sir you will definitely get them, I can assure you) then after a month no, we don’t have them. That was a stupid waste of time.

I don’t have much faith in them.

 

[Teletypewriter]

We all forget that during COVID, stores had to perform daily cleanings with reduced staff. As a result, stores removed a lot of touch points to reduce cleanings. Try and find a chair or couch at Barnes and Noble today, you won’t.

 

[TechnoMonk]

We all forget that during COVID, stores had to perform daily cleanings with reduced staff. As a result, stores removed a lot of touch points to reduce cleanings. Try and find a chair or couch at Barnes and Noble today, you won’t.

Wow. I spent countless hours on those chairs/couches at Barnes and Nobles in the late nineties. How do people read without chairs and couches? I haven’t been to one in few years.

 

[Allen_Wentz]

For me, would need Apple to unchain the demo units and put in a sofa with a TV tuned to a sporting event, to know how it feels while using it on the couch.

Seriously? This is is 2025. Who needs a chair, or a manky couch in a store to know what using a laptop feels like?

No doubt Apple does not want their stores to be like coffee shops, with some slob with a computing device sitting in an easy chair poaching the WiFi all day.

 

[jagolden]

can you imagine how cluttered an Apple Store would be if they had chairs everywhere rolling around? Not sure why you really need to be seated to try out a laptop, the real questions are the screen and speed of the machine and if it does what you need. Do you go anywhere and sit down to try out a computer? Those ergonomics are going to be dependent on your own chair and desk height.

Try being there waiting on whatever. You’re on a cane, have neurological problems and muscle issues. Chair please.

 

[zakarhino]

typically against the walls or in a corner they put the tables with the full mac mini/pro + display but they should change those to apple designed standing desks + aerons and reconfigure the setup to include a bunch of accessories plugged into the computers (midi devices, hard drives, whatever). essentially emulating the setups they were showing off in the marketing photos for the new mac minis.

that way you can get a sense of what an ideal home/studio mac setup would be in Apple's world. let your users larp as whatever professions apple loves so much (musicians, videographers, etc.)

 

[turbineseaplane]

They probably also don’t want the stores to become an Internet cafe.

Why? At least then they’d be enjoyable to visit.

It’s not like the mid 2000s anymore when everyone was trying to find a free Wi-Fi spot
Everyone has the Internet café in their pocket