Apple Store: All Business and a Lot Less Fun

Apple people standing around, but Apple can afford it.

We made an appointment at the Apple Store to fix a 2-year-old Mac.

A security guard took our temperature and told us to wait outside. A masked Apple employee entered a brief description of our problem into his iPad. When the technician was ready, we were allowed to go inside, 15 minutes after our scheduled meeting. The broken screen will be fixed for $99. The cost would have been over $400 if we had not bought AppleCare.

Customers were escorted in and out efficiently. They picked up their merchandise, got their technical problem handled, and shopped under the watchful eye of an Apple salesperson. There were fewer tables displaying Apple products for "just looking" customers to touch.

It was all business, and a lot less fun than it used to be.

Note: San Mateo is one of the few counties that hasn't been shut down--though it could happen at any time--so there's really no complaining here.

Shake Shack; the Wait Isn't Worth It

It was an hour's wait to place our order.

We dropped off the youngster's iPhone X for a warranty screen repair at the Stanford Apple Store. The Apple Genius told us to come back in three hours.

Three hours was exactly the wrong interval on the Friday before Christmas---just long enough to force us to stick around the crowded Stanford Shopping Center. Leaving and having to find parking again would have been quite inconvenient.

Since we did have three hours to kill, the youngster suggested that we stand in line at the Stanford Shake Shack, the first on the Peninsula.

Impressions: the burgers were flavorful and made of quality beef, but I certainly wouldn't wait an hour for them. There are any number of good burger places on the Peninsula that are competitive with Shake Shack's pricing, $8-$12 for a full meal.

Also, the average age of people in line was 20-25, contradicting the stereotype of impatient young adults. Unlike us, who were willing to wait out of curiosity, everyone had been there before. Which raises the important question: what's so great about Shake Shack? I'm not seeing it.

Back at the Apple Store, repairing the screen would be too costly and time consuming, so they gave him a new replacement. Now that wait was worth it.

Every Second Counts

Studying the manuals: who does that anymore?

Seven years ago I assisted my father when he acquired his first iPhone. Since then he's purchased an Apple Watch and an iPad, as well as upgraded to an iPhone 6 Plus, all without help from me.

Low speed and short battery life have been plaguing his iPhone 6 Plus. He had read about the significant changes Apple had instituted, and this time he wanted me to accompany him to the Apple Store at Kahala Mall.

The purchase went smoothly because we knew exactly what we wanted: the iPhone XR (a far better value proposition than the XS), a protective case, and AppleCare. Apple also gave him a $200 credit for his old iPhone.

What did not go smoothly was transferring the data from the old iPhone (Verizon requires a PIN, which few users have memorized, and dealing with Verizon took half an hour) and syncing the Apple Watch. In the end it all got done, and he's still getting accustomed to the changes (no home button and swiping up, facial recognition).

But it is much faster, and at 93 every second counts.

Apple Knows Me Too Well

The iPhone 6 had served me well for four years, but it had become too slow, froze when running some of the new apps, and exhausted its battery after 3 hours. Also, pictures were grainy, especially in low light.

Last month I sprung for the new iPhone XS Max. The reviewers say that non-power-users like me should wait for the iPhone XR, which offers nearly the same features for hundreds of dollars less.

Cleverly, Apple delayed the cheaper iPhone XR by a month after the release of the XS and XS Max, the latter ensnaring buyers like your humble blogger who lack impulse control (or for whom deferred gratification is no longer important). I did try to buy the biggest 512 GB model, but only a 256 GB phone was immediately available. The young Apple salesperson sized me up quickly: "What do you need 512 for?" I could have said I needed to store a lot of videos but sheepishly admitted that it couldn't be justified. (As of this writing, I've only used 45 GB--less than 20%--of the storage.)

The new iPhone's screen resolution and colors, speed, sound, camera, and battery life are so much better than the iPhone 6 that I would have paid 50% more than the $1,200 I actually spent.

My younger, frugal self would have waited and probably bought the iPhone XR, but Apple knows me too well.

Lucky Break

iPhone 6: takes a licking and keeps on
ticking, with a little help from AppleCare.

All members of our household have iPhone 6's and 6S's (yes, awkward plural), which means that our phone contracts with AT&T have expired. We have battery and speed problems with the phones, but none of us are upgrading to the iPhone 7. WSJ tech writer Joanna Stern: [bold added]

My answer requires no filling in the blanks. Do NOT buy an iPhone right now. It’s my annual iPhone No-Buy Rule™: Once summer rolls around wait for the new one, typically announced in early September.

This year, there’s more reason than ever to wait. According to my WSJ colleagues, in addition to an updated iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, there will be a special model that’s expected to have an OLED screen, wireless charging and facial-recognition technology. Apple declined to comment on the reports.

Even if you couldn’t care less about fancy-schmancy new tech, there are other reasons to hold out. If iPhone-istory repeats itself, Apple will drop the price on the current iPhone 7 models by $100 or more. And now that carrier contracts are all but dead, you may have your phone for two to three years—or at least until something goes wrong with it.

Which brings us to our haggard iPhone 6 and 6s. It turns out most of their common problems can be fixed—with money and/or time. Why sink any cash into a phone you’re going to replace? Because it could up your resale value, and it will definitely empower you to buy your next phone only when the time is right.

Three phones on the account will limp along until the new iPhone [Eight] is available. As for me, my iPhone 6 had a touchscreen problem that merited a full replacement under AppleCare this May. In other words, I have an "old" phone with new hardware that should last well into 2018. So I won't be upgrading to the [Eight], even if Apple launches it on time. Once in a while you get a lucky break, but it's only lucky if you recognize and act upon it.

AppleCare for Watches, not People

Apple Store, Hillsdale Mall, on a Friday afternoon.

While at the gym I knocked the Apple Watch off a shelf onto a tiled floor. The crystal cracked, and the watch wouldn't turn on at all. I made a Genius Bar appointment for today.

Eric, the Genius assigned to my case, said that the repair would cost a $69 "deductible" under my AppleCare plan. I cheerfully proffered a credit card (Apple wouldn't take ApplePay, ironically).

The repaired watch will be shipped home in a week. The transaction took 15 minutes. Easy-peasy.

Note: a young college acquaintance recently likened Obamacare to "AppleCare for people". Sure, except for rising annual premiums and deductibles, disqualification from buying the policy if you either make too much or too little money (copy of your tax return, please), and not being able to go to the doctor/Apple Store of your choice, Obamacare and AppleCare are exactly the same.

My friend is a nice person, and her observation didn't deserve an argument from your humble crank. If only Obamacare were like AppleCare, we would have a lot fewer problems...

AppleCare: Not a Loser

Transferring backup files to the replacement iPhone.

The do-it-yourself fix to the iPhone 6 freezing problem proved temporary, and having to restart the iPhone in the midst of every text message was the breaking point (phone calls weren't prematurely terminated, though). I made an appointment at the local Apple Store.

Apple's tech Genius said that the freezing of the touchscreen was a known hardware problem on the iPhone 6; luckily the iPhone was only in month 20 of its 24-month AppleCare contract.

Your humble blogger has the Apple triad--MacBook, iPad, and iPhone--and a hardware problem on at least one of them crops up every year or two.

I always buy AppleCare on all three, which is still cheaper than replacing one device when it breaks down.

Gamble if the odds are at least close to even, but not buying AppleCare is almost a sure loser.