Apple Reportedly Advised Technicians to Push iPhone Upgrades to Customers With Out-of-Warranty Devices

[iosuser]

I've been getting spammed by Apple. Just yesterday got one on iPhone XR $18.99 per month. Surprised it didn't remind me that it works out to less than the price of a cup of coffee a day

iPhones used to sell themselves, with those crazy lines as we all know. Those days are over I'm afraid and they now have to spam their users often.

 

[Jakewilk]

Mr. Cook, iPhone isn't selling as well. What should we do?
a) Lower prices
b) Betray customers trust in Genius Bar technicians

This is just disappointing. A big advantage of Apple Stores was that you could trust they were offering you something according to your needs.

Not sure what you think this article about, but the fact that apple encouraged its salespeople to sell more iPhones by offering discounts is not alarming or disappointing by any stretch of the imagination. I’m very excited that apple is offering discounts after realizing prices were too high for the present market

 

[Heineken]

It’s a business isn’t it? At some point selling matters.

 

[Anarchy99]

I still have a 1080p 55” TV! OMG!

does it sit only inches away from your eyeballs, if not its not a fair comparison

 

[JimmyHook]

I see many people either a) going way off topic and talking about the size of the display (1080p isn’t automatically better than one that’s lower in size... that’s faulty logic. DisplayMate said the XR screen is one of the nicest LCDs on any phone, ever... including 1080ps and such) or b) confusing providing options with “pushing”.

Yes, IF they were only telling people they have to upgrade, that would be bad. But I’ve seen zero evidence from this author’s hit piece to back that assertion up. I’ve only seen evidence that technicians are giving customers a choice. Isn’t it good for consumers to know ALL of their options?

 

[Glockworkorange]

What do you mean, “push”? If they give you a bill for $300 to repair a phone with cracked glass and a camera that needs replacing, wouldn’t it be fair to say, “Maybe it would be cheaper to get a Xr?” Or tell you about refurbs? Many people would choose that instead of putting a lot of cash into into a three-year-old phone.

No, what you suggest would be common sense and beneficial for the customer.

This articles (and others like it) don’t contemplate perhaps people WILL ENJOY AND BE SATISFIED with a new device that is suggested by the salesman (or “salesperson” for those looking to be offended).

Good lord, some people act as if a device upgrade is being forced on customers by some evil, black hearted (and greedy!) Apple employee.

Relax. Apple’s job is to sell phones.

 

[dazed]

Maybe if they made phones people wanted...

I know I wouldn't mind upgrading, if Apple made something I wanted.

Agreed.

I’m on a 8 Plus and see nothing in the current line up I’d want to upgrade for.

 

[Marcus PM]

As someone who has a vested interest in how well Apple does, I encourage you all to upgrade your iPhones.

 

[Redviolin]

I don't know why people expect to hold on their iphone for 10+ years, I mean, it's not a Japanese car... If I pay 1000$ every 4 years, that means I'm paying 20$/month, for a quality product. I don't find that much. Spend less on McDonalds, cigarettes, alcohol etc., and get your iphone

 

[KPandian1]

Good lord, some people act as if a device upgrade is being forced on customers by some evil, black hearted (and greedy!) Apple employee. Relax. Apple’s job is to sell phones.

Are you defending the battery/throttling dishonesty or totally unaware such a thing happened?

Apple employee gives you more authenticity? It works the other way in this situation.

Whether the headline/article of this thread is provable or hyperbole, this happens. I visited Apple store four times last year - every time there was one or more blue shirts asking us to upgrade; only one of them was obnoxiously persistent.

 

[Crowbot]

The last time I went to get service on my car the mechanic didn't tell me I'm out of warranty and I need to buy a new car. On the other hand, Apple's genius staff is doing just that

I don't think the car dealer is a good analogy. iPhones don't cost US$15,000+. And I don't think the Geniuses were demanding the customer replace the phone. Just a suggestion that upgrading, while more expensive, will give better value for a longer period. If a customer says "Oh, I don't have that kind of money" then go for the repair. And Apple products are very recyclable, even if there's no cash value.

 

[I7guy]

I've been getting spammed by Apple. Just yesterday got one on iPhone XR $18.99 per month. Surprised it didn't remind me that it works out to less than the price of a cup of coffee a day

iPhones used to sell themselves, with those crazy lines as we all know. Those days are over I'm afraid and they now have to spam their users often.

The days of the iPhone selling itself must be over since the iPhone X, because that phone sold itself. The crazy lines were about not being able to preorder with many of the changes ahrendts made.

 

[Anarchy99]

I don't know why people expect to hold on their iphone for 10+ years, I mean, it's not a Japanese car... If I pay 1000$ every 4 years, that means I'm paying 20$/month, for a quality product. I don't find that much. Spend less on McDonalds, cigarettes, alcohol etc., and get your iphone

Apple is not entitled to our money, if they don't provide value they don't deserve it.

 

[I7guy]

Are you defending the battery/throttling dishonesty or totally unaware such a thing happened?

For me, I view it as an implementation that could have been better communicated, not dishonesty. I personally wasn’t buying a new phone because mine became “slow”. Ymmv on how you view this, I’m not worked up over this as some seem to be. Again, ymmv.

Apple employee gives you more authenticity? It works the other way in this situation.

Whether the headline/article of this thread is provable or hyperbole, this happens. I visited Apple store four times last year - every time there was one or more blue shirts asking us to upgrade; only one of them was obnoxiously persistent.

I made a number of visits to the Apple store trying out various models before I pulled the plug on the max. My anecdotal experience is after the initial “hi how can I help you”, and I answered “browsing” and they said “let us know if you have questions” I was left alone.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Are you defending the battery/throttling dishonesty or totally unaware such a thing happened?

Apple employee gives you more authenticity? It works the other way in this situation.

Whether the headline/article of this thread is provable or hyperbole, this happens. I visited Apple store four times last year - every time there was one or more blue shirts asking us to upgrade; only one of them was obnoxiously persistent.

I don't think the battery issue is relevant and I do not think they intentionally nerfed phones to drive upgrades. I am not on that particular conspiracy train.

I was referring to store employees suggesting or asking a customer if they'd like to upgrade while there is a repair of a cracked screen or some other issue.

I don't understand your second sentence.

 

[newyorksole]

I know this, but to a person that does not understand how it works... their first thought is it’s in the cloud like everything else

It’s a very odd way of thinking, but I suppose.

 

[citysnaps]

If my iPhone 6 needs a repair, I would actually expect Apple to tell me how much the repair is, and how much an iPhone 7 or iPhone 8 costs me, so I can make an informed decision. With all the numbers given, you can also check how much an iPhone costs you on eBay, which may be riskier but cheaper.

For sure. That should be expected.

Funny seeing so many getting frothed up with the shakes over this.

 

[Cosmosent]

What would have happened if the 10-year Anniversary was ALL-ABOUT "10-bit Color" Capture & Display ???

Ponder that SIGNIFICANTLY missed opportunity by Cook & Schiller.

"Wide Color" Videos are ALSO NO WHERE to be seen in the AAPL Ecosystem.

Rec. 2100 is just around the corner, yet NO WHERE to be seen in the AAPL Ecosystem, apparently.

Swap out the Rec 2020 color space for Display P3, & AAPL could have been there when ??? ... how about March of 2016 !

If AAPL had been run since March 2016 by those with a proper technical background OR understanding, then AAPL wouldn't be in the position the company is now in.

Simply put, Cook & Schiller get an F- for Product Planning !

Schiller keeps his job ONLY because he provides protection for a Failed CEO.

 

[Glideslope]

I still have a 1080p 55” TV! OMG!

Going to one up you, have a 60” 1080p.

 

[curtvaughan]

I don't know why people expect to hold on their iphone for 10+ years, I mean, it's not a Japanese car... If I pay 1000$ every 4 years, that means I'm paying 20$/month, for a quality product. I don't find that much. Spend less on McDonalds, cigarettes, alcohol etc., and get your iphone

Well, the iPhone came in Sept., 2007, so if you go any farther back than 11-1/2 years there were no iPhones. The 3GS came out a bit less than 10 years ago (2009). The first iPhone with a 64-bit processor (iPhone 5S) came out in 2013. If you have taken good care of a phone that old you are probably still getting decent functionality out of it if you have replaced the battery every couple of years. The phones after the 5S, beginning with the 6/6+, really have the same basic design all the way through the 8/8+, with the exception of losing the phone jack after the 6S/6S+. I would argue that any phone from the 5S on, if properly cared for - and if not saturated due to storage limitations - is worth keeping. That's about a 5-6 year lifespan possible for an iPhone, and it also explains why - at least so far - those phones have pretty good resale value. I have a 6S+ with phone jack, 90% battery health, and 128 GB of storage that I bought new about 3 years ago that I will keep around, likely with a new battery over the next year, for at least 2-3 more years. At that time, I'll probably replace it with a new phone, though it remains to be seen whether it will be with another Apple phone - depends on the design, pricing, and reputation of the Apple product in 2-3 years. That's become a bit iffy as a speculation lately. Time will tell.

 

[Wags]

I think iPhones are almost 75% of Apple’s income now so they are going to do whatever it takes. They probably spend 90% of focus with anything iOS related. Now mentioning high profit margin products like App Store, Cloud, and whatever releasing regarding health services.

 

[mattster16]

Saks Fifth Avenue doesn't push products like Walmart

Pretty sure it’s the other way around. Saks was sales people, people who will say “oh that looks great on you!” to get you to buy something. Walmart has pretty much no one, you can’t find an employee at Walmart even if you try most of the time...
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I still have a 1080p 55” TV! OMG!

How can you even SURVIVE without 4K!? I’ve met people that are buying small TVs for their kitchens and are absolutely convinced they need 1080p or the picture quality will be just horrible... I don’t get the fixation over the XR not being true 1080. It’s like 8 lines of resolution less than that and still has a crazy high pixel density. Nobody would ever be able to tell the difference in a blind test.

 

[mi7chy]

Can you really blame them though? They need people to keep buying their overpriced devices to pay for the extravagant spaceship building and habits.

 

[magicschoolbus]

It’s a very odd way of thinking, but I suppose.

Well you and I read forums and know how technology works. When a company wants to know what you look like to unlock your phone, it makes people suspicious and they find it intrusive.

 

[goonie4life9]

Unfortunately, it was dishonesty. The metric that mattered for throttling was stable voltage. When volatage wasn’t stable, Apple considered the battery to be a problem and implemented throttling to prevent a poorer user experience.

However, when customers went to Apple stores with poor performance on their devices (e.g., poor battery life, slow system performance, etc.), they were refused battery replacements because the only metric that mattered was capacity. So, Apple told customers that their issues had nothing to do with the battery when in many cases, they had everything to do with the battery. In other words, Apple recognized a degraded battery for throttling purposes but did not recognize a degraded battery for actual replacement purposes.

This highlighted the dishonesty - Apple had one metric for degrading performance and another metric for replacing batteries. This discrepancy happened to work quite well in their favor - a new phone.

For me, I view it as an implementation that could have been better communicated, not dishonesty. I personally wasn’t buying a new phone because mine became “slow”. Ymmv on how you view this, I’m not worked up over this as some seem to be. Again, ymmv.


I made a number of visits to the Apple store trying out various models before I pulled the plug on the max. My anecdotal experience is after the initial “hi how can I help you”, and I answered “browsing” and they said “let us know if you have questions” I was left alone.