Confused about returning/replacement

They tell you "take your time." Why are you stressing it?

Most likely the new shipment will include further instructions plus packaging. They are not expecting you to return it the exact same day as your receipt. Apple is a large corporation with ten of thousand customers returning their stuff everyday for whatever reason, they are not about to call and threaten you if you don't return it the same day.

They will schedule two couriers - first one to ship the new one, and a second to pick the old one up (usually TNT - they'll send you an email with a number to call in order to arrange the pickup).

And they're usually fine replacing it in advance - they have your address and credit card details remember .

I returned FOUR MacBook Air's in the space of a month. I'll explain it to you

You call up Apple and get a replacement sent out. Essentially, it's no different from ordering a product online, you'll get an order/shipping email. You will also get an email confirming the replacement which will contain a return number. This is the number you put on box going back to Apple.

You can keep the faulty product until the new one arrives if you wish however you may (or may not) be required to sign a waiver acknowledging that you will be in possession of 2 products and that if you don't return the faulty product you will be charged for it. If you don't want to keep it until the new one arrives then Apple may not release the replacement for shipping until they can track it in the couriers network or it returns to their warehouse. If you wish to keep the faulty product until the new one arrives then as soon as you take delivery of the replacement it becomes YOUR property and the faulty one is property of APPLE. You then have 14 days to return the faulty product to Apple. Note: I was told that although they state you have 14 days to return it, they won't chase you up/charge you until about a month after you receive the replacement.

When you request a replacement you will be informed that you will be contacted by Apple's couriers within 48 hours to arrange a time for them to collect the faulty product. They may phone or email you to do this. The product must be packed in it's original product box (not including plastic seals/shrink wrap) with all accessories (charger/adaptor/cables/mouse/keyboard/booklets/cloth/stickers) and then securely packed in the cardboard box it arrived in and if you do not have it then you must provide a suitable box. You must write the returns number clearly on the outside of the box. Do NOT write it on the product box.

That's all you have to do. The courier will arrive at the pre arrangement time and collect the box from you. Make sure that you get a receipt from the courier to prove that you handed it over incase anything goes wrong during transit. That way Apple will charge the courier and not you if it gets lost.

The product should arrive back at Apple's warehouse in the next day or two and you will get an email confirming they got it back.