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not true

This isn't happening for retail employees. Just talked to a genius friend of mine and they were told raises are happening, but they top out at 10%.

Edit: I'm curious as to why I'm being downvoted. I literally just talked to a friend of mine who is a genius, and I'm telling you, this is fact. Raises are topping out at 10%. This is still good news, but I'm sorry it doesn't line up with the above rumors.

not true. 25-35% your friend must not be a good employee
 
I hope the performance-based raise will be accompanied by some training. In Ann Arbor, Michigan, The Geniuses are generally good, but the floor staff are either
(a) liars
(b) not knowledgable of their products.

Multiple occasions while scouting for Mac Mini and MBP, I was talking to floor staff about performance differences between sub-classes of same computer. Instead of saying, "I am not sure, let me check for you", these people made up answers that did not make sense:
(1) "the $100-$200 price-jump is worth it if you consider the increase in RAM."
----- I asked him whether RAM upgrade wasn't cheaper than price jump. He said "installing RAM yourself will void Apple warranty"... liar or stupid? :mad:

(2) I asked floor person if quad-core will perform better for video-processing than dual-core + GPU... she said: "there is no difference for video processing." :confused: (after reading up myself, it seems quad-core has the upper hand).

(3) Right after a repair (while still in store), my uMBP trackpad was popping up on the upper edge. I told floor person and he said: "but it works, right?"
---- I please try and convince a car owner after repair that the resulting dent doesn't affect performance. :mad:
 
I had a guy who can't distinguish the difference between a radeon 6490 and a 6550 other than its faster and talking about applications that rely sorely on CPU than the GPU. Ridiculous.

Alright, now I have to know! What's the difference between a radeon 6490 and a 6550?
 
Actually, I think that the level of knowledge you expect these people to have is a bit ridiculous. Could they know more about some things? Maybe. But most of the things you mentioned I wouldn't know off the top of my head either, and for 99.9999% of customers that walk through the door, the knowledge would be useless anyway.
 
Still doesn't change the fact that unless you're a manager or a Genius, you aren't full time so you don't get insurance.

Turned down $20/hr as a Genius about 5 years ago because the hours suck. 6 days on, 4 off, 3 on, 2 off. Stuff like that where it's constantly switching. Plus they move you between morning, mid, and night shifts. No thanks.


Wow, lots of misinformation in this thread.

First, my fiancee currently works retail at Apple. When she was part-time, we both got benefits. Now she's full-time, and the benefits are even better. These are the same benefits that self-employed friends of mine pay $500+ a month for (for both of them), and my lady and I pay less than half that. Excellent coverage, too.

And to the guy that said that the raises top out at 10%, wrong. My fiancee got 15%.
 
Alright, now I have to know! What's the difference between a radeon 6490 and a 6550?
6550 vs 6490
128bit vs 64bit bus
2x more pipelines
Slower clocks, but more overall dataflow due to wider bus
Also the 6490 is the higher end of the older series, while the 6550 is mid to lower of the next series (so 6490 is likely faster).

6490----------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer
AMD
Radeon HD 6400M Series
Radeon HD 6490M 160@700 / 750 / 800MHz
Radeon HD 6470M 160@700 / 750MHz
Radeon HD 6450M 160@600MHz
Radeon HD 6430M 160@480MHz

Codename
Seymour XT

Architecture
Terascale 2

Pipelines
160 - unified

Core Speed *
700 / 750 / 800 MHz

Shader Speed *
700 / 750 / 800 MHz

Memory Speed *
800 MHz

Memory Bus Width
64 Bit

Memory Type
DDR3/GDDR5

Max. Amount of Memory
512 MB

Shared Memory
no

DirectX
DirectX 11, Shader 5.0

technology
40 nm

Date of Announcement
06.01.2011

6550---------------------------------------------------------
Manufacturer
AMD

Radeon HD 6500M Series
Radeon HD 6570M 400@650MHz
Radeon HD 6550M 400@600MHz
Radeon HD 6530M 400@500MHz

Codename
Capilano-PRO

Architecture
Terascale 2

Pipelines
400 - unified

Core Speed *
600 MHz

Shader Speed *
600 MHz

Memory Speed *
800 MHz

Memory Bus Width
128 Bit

Memory Type
DDR3

Max. Amount of Memory
1024 MB

Shared Memory
no

DirectX
DirectX 11, Shader 5.0

technology
40 nm

Notebook Size
medium sized

Date of Announcement
26.11.2010
 
I hate Apple store staff. They're all over you as soon as you walk into the shop with a fake'i love working for Apple' face. Then, when you need advice on a product, they haven't got a clue. If I want a pay rise in my job, I atleast have to prove I'm good at what I do.

I appreciate being acknowledged & greeted warmly when I enter a store, particularly when that store sells high end, expensive products. I appreciate that I can make an appointment for service or for a free workshop & know that I will be helped in a timely manner.

I enjoy going into the Apple store, I don't have to hunt down a sales associate, I don't have to stand & wait forever for help or to pay for my purchases like I do at other stores. As far as being clueless about products go, have you been to Best Buy lately? About the only thing many BB sales associates have in depth knowledge of is the Best Buy warranty program.
 
I appreciate being acknowledged & greeted warmly when I enter a store, particularly when that store sells high end, expensive products. I appreciate that I can make an appointment for service or for a free workshop & know that I will be helped in a timely manner.

I enjoy going into the Apple store, I don't have to hunt down a sales associate, I don't have to stand & wait forever for help or to pay for my purchases like I do at other stores. As far as being clueless about products go, have you been to Best Buy lately? About the only thing many BB sales associates have in depth knowledge of is the Best Buy warranty program.

must be a big city thing then, the reverse is true in the DC area:p
 
I'm sure this is probably not the case in every apple store, but I have never had a helpful genius despite me politely explaining the problem and that swapping a harddrive does not break apple warranty. They have turned me away each time I tried to present my problem. It makes me think that all they is do help people who can't figure out how to turn on their computers.

I know they do more, but ive had bad experiences, and 30/h seems like a lot for nothing.
 
I'm sure this is probably not the case in every apple store, but I have never had a helpful genius despite me politely explaining the problem and that swapping a harddrive does not break apple warranty. They have turned me away each time I tried to present my problem. It makes me think that all they is do help people who can't figure out how to turn on their computers.

I know they do more, but ive had bad experiences, and 30/h seems like a lot for nothing.

haha it's part of the mac stereotype you know. Supposed to be easy to use, hence the lack of a manual.
 
So deserved! Way to go, Apple.

In the Apple Store I know best, most of the workers are kids getting through college on their own or graduates who couldn't find good jobs in the current job market.

Of course there are some flawed exceptions--I remind you that perfection is unattainable--but Apple employees are patient, gracious, and calm under pressure. I go to a very large, busy store, and the staff there is pleasant, friendly, and quick to help. I'm not an oblivious new-to-Mac baby boomer, either. I'm in my early twenties and I know computers.

I think the retail employees at Apple are doing a great job. Especially because I've witnessed them deal with situations I'd find unbearable within the first ten minutes. People forget their own passwords and (I'm not making this up) get angry with the Apple employees, who are too polite to point out that it's the customer's own damn fault. Or the customers who think that their happy-hour mishap with their wine-soaked iPhones should be covered under warranty. That's unrealistic.

This is followed by the self-titled "expert" who comes into the Apple Store specifically to boost his own ego by asking some obscure question that an Apple Store employee has probably never needed to answer before--for God's sake, not even .001% of the world population knows or cares about the differences between a Radeon 6490 and a 6550--and when the employee doesn't answer correctly or immediately, our "expert" runs home to his custom-built machine (sweet case mods configuration, bro), minimizes World of Warcraft, and gets on every techie website to tell of his "awful" experience with the "idiotic" Apple Store employees. It would have made much more sense to stay at home at look at the tech specs on Apple's website in the first place, by the way...the Apple Stores exist for people seeking service, not specs.

I digress.

But while I'm so worked up over this, here's a thought: maybe Apple should just give free Xanax to these poor kids. They try so hard and so many of their customers are just terrible people.

Seriously...let's all take a moment to be glad we don't work there.
 
If he was talking about geographic size, he was wrong. If he was talking about ego size, he was not.

Ego as a percentage of Australia measured in big heads:

United States.......1773%
Texas ..........1000%
Rest of the South...400%
NYC......................303%
We who use Macs.....70%


LOL, you're a funny bugger. Probably get voted down for encouraging you. Keep it up!
 
sorry, I just can't handle all the misinformation on this thread.

1. any apple employee who works more than 3 months (part-time OR full-time) is eligible for full medical benefits
2. pay is based on the location and local standards of living/costs. apple store china workers make less than apple store ohio workers who make less than apple store NYC workers, who probably make the most, or perhaps apple store norway or UK.
3. apple store is retail, but it's like no other retail job you will ever have. It is possibly the best retail working experience in America. Retention is very high, and acceptance is around 6% of applicants. Hiring age starts at 18, but the median age is more like 30, with 60 year olds to 20 year olds and the full gamut of ethnic, social, and countercultural diversity being represented. First careers, second careers, and so forth. Nearly every employee I've ever met has been a college graduate.
4. anyone who disses or smears the entry level wage at Apple, ignoring the generous benefit and wage system, and incredible opportunities for growth within the company, must here forth say what job they actually do and what wage they actually make, otherwise you are just trolling and a hater.
5. people are also ignoring something important. Money is obviously not everything. Garbage men make an excellent living, much better than school teachers, apple employees, and many office workers. So why isn't everyone a garbage man? You are ignoring the proposition that Apple is a fantastic company to work for, and having a job that you wake up and enjoy going to in the morning is worth 5 jobs that pay better but drain your will to live.

Thanks! You seem to be the only here with some common sense. I agree 100% with your 5th statement.

A job that you _truly_ enjoy is worth so much more than a job that you don't really like but get paid more for. Even though money helps a lot, it's not everything. The most important thing is that you feel happy and comfortable with your job and life.

And by the way, it really confuses me why everyone here seems to be so against "retail" positions. Sure it might not be a fancy CEO job where you earn millions of dollars/month... but i really can't see what's wrong with it and i would absolutely not call it "just retail".
 
that's not necessarily true. Just as you can't force someone to become personable, the same can be said for product knowledge. I would gather that just about everyone who posts here regularly knows tons more about the product than the typical blue shirt apple employee. Tons of them I would bet are great salespeople (and were hired as such) but in my area they were no more personable nor knowledgeable than your typical BB, *insert electronics store* employee. To be honest it almost seems that with Apple's popularity in recent times you have a lot of people that want to work for them that don't really know anything about the product except that that its the status thing to own.

that's what I said, they don't hire based on product knowledge. If someone is a condescending jerk that knows everything about apple, it is still a bad idea to hire them, and apple doesn't hire them.

That being said, does everyone on here know why Steve's outlook is not syncing properly with his iPhone? Does everyone on here know how to explain and show the assistive features of an iPad to a visually impaired/legally blind person who wants to buy one? Does everyone on macrumors know how to handle a ballistic customer who just dropped her new iPhone on the sidewalk outside but didn't purchase applecare plus? Does everyone here know how to recover an iCloud password for a customer who doesn't know her recovery email password, and lied about her age when setting up the security questions and doesn't remember the year. Then, when the mail password is reset, can't change the settings on her blackberry to receive mail again because she doesn't know her blackberry password either and is leaving on an important business trip tomorrow morning and tmobile shop is already closed?

an apple retail employee needs to know all of these things and so many more.

people on macrumors most often use common sense, know their passwords, and don't do crazy things with their products to mess them up in incomprehensible ways. Apple employees see that kind of stuff daily. If all apple store customers were like rumor forum folks, they'd need half the staff they have currently.
 
that's what I said, they don't hire based on product knowledge. If someone is a condescending jerk that knows everything about apple, it is still a bad idea to hire them, and apple doesn't hire them.

That being said, does everyone on here know why Steve's outlook is not syncing properly with his iPhone? Does everyone on here know how to explain and show the assistive features of an iPad to a visually impaired/legally blind person who wants to buy one? Does everyone on macrumors know how to handle a ballistic customer who just dropped her new iPhone on the sidewalk outside but didn't purchase applecare plus? Does everyone here know how to recover an iCloud password for a customer who doesn't know her recovery email password, and lied about her age when setting up the security questions and doesn't remember the year. Then, when the mail password is reset, can't change the settings on her blackberry to receive mail again because she doesn't know her blackberry password either and is leaving on an important business trip tomorrow morning and tmobile shop is already closed?

an apple retail employee needs to know all of these things and so many more.

people on macrumors most often use common sense, know their passwords, and don't do crazy things with their products to mess them up in incomprehensible ways. Apple employees see that kind of stuff daily. If all apple store customers were like rumor forum folks, they'd need half the staff they have currently.

Actually, I see them knowing next to nothing about the third party stuff they sell. That's the most frustrating thing. They can tell you basics about their phones, laptops etc but not much else. I guess that might be on purpose as the more you know, the more you're worth.

Ask them about the headphones they sell and they'll admit to not knowing (correct response) or guess (worst response).

But product knowledge is everything when it comes to sales. They aren't high earners in the retail market as apple has already done much of the selling for them. They need to swipe a card.
 
Seems like another example of changes brought about by the 'nicer' Tim Cook. Steve Jobs seemed like a nice guy but he could be really harsh on people.
 
Some people say Apple retail are paid above average, others say below.

Giving employees raises, especially when the retail stores produce the profits they do, is great. Without the employees, Apple Retail stores wouldn't exist
 
Last edited:
"Apple's wealth not benefiting most workers"

(above is the hard-copy title for the article in today's Mercury News)

http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_20926179/legion-fans-apple-retail-jobs-prove-letdown-pay
(quoted in entirety)

For legion of fans, Apple retail jobs prove a letdown

By David Segal
New York Times

Last year, during his best three-month stretch, Jordan Golson sold about $750,000 worth of computers and gadgets at the Apple Store in Salem, N.H. It was a performance that might have called for a bottle of Champagne -- if that were a luxury Golson could have afforded.

"I was earning $11.25 an hour," he said. "Part of me was thinking, 'This is great. I'm an Apple fan, the store is doing really well.' But when you look at the amount of money the company is making, and then you look at your paycheck, it's kind of tough."

America's love affair with the smartphone has helped create tens of thousands of jobs at places like Best Buy and Verizon Wireless and will this year pump billions into the economy.

Within this world, the Apple Store is the undisputed king, a retail phenomenon renowned for impeccable design, deft service and spectacular revenues. Last year, Apple's 327 global stores took in more money per square foot than any other U.S. retailer -- wireless or otherwise -- and almost double that of Tiffany, which was No. 2 on the list, according to the research firm RetailSails.

But most of Apple's employees enjoyed little of that wealth. While consumers tend to think of Apple's headquarters in Cupertino as the company's heart and soul, a majority of its workers in the United States are not engineers or executives with hefty salaries and bonuses but rather hourly wage earners selling iPhones and MacBooks.

About 30,000 of the 43,000 Apple employees in this country work in Apple Stores, as members of the service economy, and many of them earn about $25,000 a year. They work inside the world's fastest growing industry, for the most valuable company, run by one of the country's most richly compensated chief executives, Tim Cook. Last year, he received stock grants, which vest over a 10-year period, that at today's share price would be worth more than $570 million.

And though Apple is unparalleled as a retailer, when it comes to its lowliest workers, the company is a reflection of the technology industry as a whole.

Much of the debate about U.S. unemployment has focused on why companies have moved factories overseas, but only 8 percent of the U.S. work force is in manufacturing, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Job growth has for decades been led by service-related work.

And as the service sector has grown, the definition of a career has been reframed for millions of U.S. workers.

By the standards of retailing, Apple offers above-average pay -- well above the minimum wage of $7.25 and better than Gap, though slightly less than Lululemon, the yoga and athletic apparel chain, where sales staff earn about $12 an hour. The company also offers very good benefits for a retailer, including health care, 401(k) contributions and the chance to buy company stock, as well as Apple products, at a discount.

Even Apple, it seems, has recently decided it needs to pay its workers more. Last week, four months after The New York Times first began inquiring about the wages of its store employees, the company started to inform some staff members that they would receive substantial raises.

Apple declined requests for interviews for this article. Instead, the company issued a statement: "Thousands of incredibly talented professionals work behind the Genius Bar and deliver the best customer service in the world. The annual retention rate for Geniuses is almost 90%, which is unheard-of in the retail industry, and shows how passionate they are about their customers and their careers at Apple."
 
Wow, lots of misinformation in this thread.

First, my fiancee currently works retail at Apple. When she was part-time, we both got benefits. Now she's full-time, and the benefits are even better. These are the same benefits that self-employed friends of mine pay $500+ a month for (for both of them), and my lady and I pay less than half that. Excellent coverage, too.

And to the guy that said that the raises top out at 10%, wrong. My fiancee got 15%.

This was more than 6 years ago. Was your fiancé working there and getting benefits working part time at that point? I can only speak for that time period but back then, from what I was told by the manager in charge of all 5 stores in Minnesota, they did not give insurance and other benefits to part-time employees.
 
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