HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Genius Bar is a
technical support Technical support (abbreviated as tech support) is a call centre type customer service provided by companies to advise and assist registered users with issues concerning their technical products. Traditionally done on the phone, technical supp ...
service provided by
Apple Inc. Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
inside
Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital med ...
s to support the use of its products and services. The locations provide concierge-style, face-to-face support for customers from "Geniuses" who are specially trained and certified by Apple, with multiple levels of certification depending on the products serviced. Many of the services are provided for free, regardless of the product's warranty status. For problems that require repairs to hardware, most of the work can be completed on-site, while customers wait. The Genius Bar at Apple Stores offers same-day service for both
OLED An organic light-emitting diode (OLED or organic LED), also known as organic electroluminescent (organic EL) diode, is a light-emitting diode (LED) in which the emissive electroluminescent layer is a film of organic compound that emits light ...
/
LCD A liquid-crystal display (LCD) is a flat-panel display or other electronically modulated optical device that uses the light-modulating properties of liquid crystals combined with polarizers. Liquid crystals do not emit light directly but i ...
screen and
lithium-ion battery A lithium-ion or Li-ion battery is a type of rechargeable battery which uses the reversible reduction of lithium ions to store energy. It is the predominant battery type used in portable consumer electronics and electric vehicles. It also see ...
replacement. If the in-house technician needs to send the affected device to an Apple Repair Center, most repaired or replaced iPhones will be returned or ready for pickup in approximately 3 business days.
Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. S ...
, the former
senior vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
for retail, often referred to the Genius Bar as the "heart and soul" of the Apple Store.


Store layout

The layout of a Genius Bar previously consisted of at least two 15" or 17" current Apple Portable Computers, often mounted on "floating" stands. Employees now use iPads with similar software to check in machines for repairs. There may be other "floating" notebooks for iPod/iPhone troubleshooting, often referred to as "floaters". LCD screens behind the Bar play looped videos which offer tips to customers waiting for help. Stools can be found in front of the Bar for people to sit and chat with each other or with employees. The "Red Telephone" sometimes seen behind the Genius Bar was a direct line to Apple product specialists, allowing for problems and questions too complicated for the in-store employees to answer. As of August 2009, this phone is no longer installed in newer Apple Retail Stores and removed in others.


Staff

The employees can also be viewed as the local representatives of AppleCare. They offer personal support when customers have problems or questions relating to their Apple products. Most services carried out at the Genius Bar are free. Non-warranty service (which is paid for by the customer when repairs are complete) is also routinely performed. In some countries, Apple has service depots where portable repairs (for issues such as accidental damage) can be completed for a flat rate. Most portable computer repairs and all desktop repairs are performed in-store and completed overnight or within a few days. In September 2009, the Family Room Specialists were folded into the mix to handle
iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes wa ...
and iPhone troubleshooting. After its release in 2010,
iPad The iPad is a brand of iOS and iPadOS-based tablet computers that are developed by Apple Inc. The iPad was conceived before the related iPhone but the iPhone was developed and released first. Speculation about the development, operating ...
appointments also fell under the Family Room Specialists. Apple now maintains two Genius Bar queues: Mac and Mobile Device. Larger support teams are headed up by the "Lead Genius", who schedules workers, and handles customer service issues at the Genius Bar. The Lead Genius is assisted by "Genius Admins", who is in charge of managing the administrative paperwork, organizing the Geniuses' work and liaising with customers about their repairs.


Genius Training Student Workbook

The Genius Training Student Workbook is
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancestor ...
's employee training manual for
Apple Store The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital med ...
tech-support employees, called Geniuses. The manual features various marketing techniques revolving around the end goal of selling merchandise. One of the basic tenets taught to the employees in training is that “Everyone in the Apple Store is in the business of selling”. The basic selling strategy is summed up with a
mnemonic device A mnemonic ( ) device, or memory device, is any learning technique that aids information retention or retrieval (remembering) in the human memory for better understanding. Mnemonics make use of elaborative encoding, retrieval cues, and image ...
: Approach, Probe, Present, Listen, End (APPLE). When customers have concerns, the prescribed response in the manual is the "Three Fs:" Feel, Felt, and Found technique. Every Genius must attend a two-week recruit training that mandates programs as diverse as “Using Diagnostic Services” and “The Power of Empathy.” Geniuses also have a list of words that the manual clearly stipulates as banned; words such as "bomb", "crash" and "hang" must be substituted by "does not respond" or "unexpectedly quits". The manual also teaches employees to read emotional cues such as drumming on a table or placing a palm on the back of the neck that might mean a customer is bored or frustrated, respectively. Employees who are not in the Genius role don't receive this manual or go through this training, The manual was a well-kept secret, until a copy leaked in August 2012 and ended in the hands of
Gizmodo ''Gizmodo'' ( ) is a design, technology, science and science fiction website. It was originally launched as part of the Gawker Media network run by Nick Denton, and runs on the Kinja platform. ''Gizmodo'' also includes the subsite '' io9'', w ...
's senior staff writer Sam Biddle, who commented: "It’s a penetrating look inside Apple: psychological mastery, banned words, roleplaying—you’ve never seen anything like it." A ''
Christian Science Monitor Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...
'' article connected the manual's contents to the idea of the " reality distortion field", a term for Apple's effectiveness at charming customers.


Spinoffs/offshoots

Currently, Apple offers the Genius Bar for technical support, and has Creatives – software trainers – available at all times to answer less technical questions. Over the years, Apple has experimented with ways of offering service and support to complement the Genius Bar. Some examples, all now defunct, include: *The Studio is staffed by "trainers" who serve customers with questions about many Apple consumer and pro applications, such as iLife,
iWork iWork is an office suite of applications created by Apple Inc. for its macOS and iOS operating systems, and also available cross-platform through the iCloud website. It includes the presentation application Keynote, the word processing and d ...
,
Final Cut Pro Final Cut Pro is a series of non-linear video editing software programs first developed by Macromedia Inc. and later Apple Inc. The most recent version, Final Cut Pro 10.6.4, runs on Mac computers powered by macOS Big Sur 11.5.1 or later. The ...
, and
Aperture In optics, an aperture is a hole or an opening through which light travels. More specifically, the aperture and focal length of an optical system determine the cone angle of a bundle of rays that come to a focus in the image plane. An op ...
. Third party applications are not officially supported. *The iPod Bar serves to separate out the customers with iPod-related questions to allow the Genius Bar to focus on customers with
Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
-specific queries. Pro Labs and Open Lab were introduced with the opening of the Apple Store on West 14th Street in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * ...
while Pro Labs is also offered at the Sydney, Australia Apple Store and the
Pudong Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic city ...
,
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
Apple Store. Open Lab to date is only offered at the West 14th Street location.Apple Store West 14th Street
/ref> * Pro Labs consist of eight hours of training, spread across a series of four two-hour sessions. Much like The Studio, these sessions focus on Apple's "Pro Apps" such as Aperture and Final Cut Pro, as well as other third-party applications such as Photoshop, however, they are much more in-depth and focused than sessions at The Studio. * Open Lab provides first-come, first-served assistance to customers with various applications, much like the early days of the Genius Bar, but with an emphasis on software as opposed to the Genius Bar's focus on hardware. Apple has also branded features in their
iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...
application "Genius" that make musical suggestions based on the user's observed taste.


References


External links


Apple Genius Bar
{{Apple Apple Inc. services Computer-related introductions in 2001