Ma2k5
macrumors 68030
From what I understand, you can only get the 15gb/512gb versions with 3.3ghz i7 CPU instore. Otherwise you have to settle for the stock configs (8gb/256gb or 8gb/512gb).
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U.K. Retail store availability of Touch Bar MacBook Pros?
- Thread starter Samtb
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From what I understand, you can only get the 15gb/512gb versions with 3.3ghz i7 CPU instore. Otherwise you have to settle for the stock configs (8gb/256gb or 8gb/512gb).
Most wired thing ever, part of my family is travelling in London and went to Covent Garden and asked for a 15" and they said they are only sold online pickup. What's up with that?
Brookzy
macrumors 603
I think what they meant is they had stock this morning but all have been sold to online pickup customers who have already paid.
Okay I understand, but is istocknow not uptodate with online pickup ? I see them all red but then reading some are getting them by walking in and asking
Brookzy
macrumors 603
You can walk in and buy one if they have stock. Today when you went in, they probably didn't have any stock.
The online pickup option is only visible where there is good stock in-store. The quantity that constitutes 'good stock' varies by product, but for Macs I think it means more than 10. So, if they have 9 in stock, it won't be purchasable online, and so you can only buy it as a walk-in customer.
Explained myself a few times and I did so a few posts after that (can't word this to not sound offensive sorry).
Picked up my higher base spec 15". Love my first macOS machine. One thing I hate is the keyboard, not the mechanism, I actually love this clicky-ness but why on earth is the UK keyboard the same layout as the US one. @, ' and " swapped places like the US version....
Brookzy
macrumors 603
Ah yes, I've never understood that either. You'll get used to it soon enough. Also I think it might be possible to remap the keys in keyboard preferences.
I bought a 13" from Covent Garden a few days ago. Regretted not getting the 15" so went back today to swap it, they had a delivery this morning but all 15" models sold out by lunch time.
They issued a refund, so now I'm waiting for 15" stock anywhere in London. Hopefully Apple get Saturday deliveries.
They issued a refund, so now I'm waiting for 15" stock anywhere in London. Hopefully Apple get Saturday deliveries.
Picked up a 15" up today - just a quick question, the graphics card is reporting as Intel graphics in System Info, but these have Radeon dedicated graphics right? Why's it reporting intel graphics?
Brookzy
macrumors 603
In the About This Mac page it should list both the discrete and dedicated graphics cards. If it doesn't, a reboot should fix it. Either way, you can be sure whether or not the dedicated card is running or not by running a Geekbench graphics (a.k.a. compute test) and seeing if the score aligns with other Pros of the same spec.
Brookzy
macrumors 603
Yes, that is the only 15" BTO model they stock. The London stores get them, but not many. And you cannot reserve online so it is somewhat luck of the draw. Try first thing in the morning. Both Covent Garden and Regent Street only open at 10am, so have received their day's supply before they open.
My advice: check the in-store pickup options for the stock 15" models online early in the morning (from around 7-8am ish). If the night before there is no pick-up availability, but in the morning there is, that is your cue that they have had a delivery and you should get there for 10am! You should get one in no time that way! 🙂
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Fireball Dragon
macrumors 6502a
I am also back to square one, looking for a maxed out 15" for in-store pick-up. Had to return my 15" as it was faulty. Multiple kernel panics, severe graphics glitch on touch-bar and sparks when connecting my external USB-C display...
Fireball Dragon
macrumors 6502a
Went to Lakeside. No stock there for maxed out 15", but they had base 15".
Anyone know if Apple get Sunday deliveries? Was thinking about going to Regent St. or Covent Garden tomorrow...
I am fine with base 15", some of my family is in London and I asked them to pick one up but they haven't found any yet 🙁, So I'm here at Iceland looking on the internet for information to send to them :/, They are neer Covent Garden
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Brookzy
macrumors 603
It's not training. There's no way they can know every model and configuration that they have for every product. Specialists don't handle stock at all - that's why they have the nice little app (it was much crappier before the app!!!).
Stores normally stock all of the "standard" model and one "maxed out" one, with everything fully specced. For the MacBook Pro, there are 3 13" ones, plus the maxed out, in 2 colours. Plus the old style one". Then there's the 15" - 2 models, + max, 2 colours, + old. In one product line, that's 16 models.
Then there's the MacBook, MacBook Air, iMac. And the 52 iPhone SKUs currently stocked. And currently I think there's 67 different iPad SKUs. And don't even get me started on Apple Watch.
You really cannot expect every staff member to know what is available at each store at any given time, especially when a delivery may have came in after their shift started!! It's not a training issue, it's a realism one.
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They do, but the reservation system won't show stock for some time until after the delivery. This is so that you can't reserve something which has been delivered, but hasn't been unpacked yet.
Hence why, as above, the bulk of the stock was available to reserve on Tuesday. Any available tomorrow will be uncollected reservations, not freshly delivered ones.
Brookzy
macrumors 603
No, there is no expectation for them to know every model configuration. The point is that in my experience the majority of the staff are under the impression that if you want anything that isn't a stock model, you must order online. All they need to know is that they stock something other than the stock models. They don't need to know hundreds of SKUs to know that.
It is a training issue. "We don't stock anything other than the base models, you'll have to order online" is a result of poor training, it's not innate!
It could have been for any number of reasons. They don't get trained on what stock they hold, they see that through their device, through experience selling them, or talking to inventory guys. Rarely will anyone ask for anything other than standard, as people who do that don't normally buy in store 😉.
They may not have known, or didn't think they had stock and didn't want to go through the "when's your next delivery" "will you be getting any tomorrow?" "will other stores have them" conversation, who knows 😛.
As a general rule of thumb for future reference, stores carry standard models + ones with maxed cpu/ram (if possible)/ssd/gpu. Flagships/big stores may carry others, but it's highly unusual for smaller stores to carry anything else.
Brookzy
macrumors 603
And that is the whole problem. Their job is to sell stuff, and they aren't even told what stuff they have to sell. That's pretty fundamental.
And why is this? A lot of people equate more expensive with better. There are a lot of clueless rich people who will just buy the most expensive one. If the staff knew they stocked high-end models, they would sell more of them. That much is obvious. So money is being lost because of this.
Exactly - if it's simply enough for a rule of thumb to apply, there is no reason for the staff not to be trained on it.
(Also the days of the "maxed out" models being routinely stocked are over now that it can double the price. Case in point: the "maxed out" MacBook Pros only have 512GB (13") and 1TB (15") this year - not 1TB and 2TB.)
Fireball Dragon
macrumors 6502a
I agree that staff cannot be expected to know which models are available at the top of their head. I was actually told that they do not stock the maxed out configuration. When they clearly do.
If I was totally naive to the situation (many people are), they would have gone through ordering online at the store as the staff suggested (and waited until January for their MacBook), when the store actually had them sitting in the back and they could have walked out with it the same day!!!
If I had not said that I know this configuration was available, I would have walked away empty handed. If this lack of knowledge on what products the store actually carries (and not individual stock levels) is not poor training, I don't know what is.