5 ms·

I don't think genius employees are trained or permitted by Apple rules to open up a phone and start tinkering around. They are very much there to provide basic

I don't think genius employees are trained or permitted by Apple rules to open up a phone and start tinkering around. They are very much there to provide basic t1 tech support, and if anything is broken in hardware to send it back to the mothership for repair/replace.

Bud 5y ago
Correct. Genius Bar folks are not hardware-repair folks.
bduerst 5y ago
Isn't that the problem though? That someone in a mall kiosk is more skilled and authorized to fix a phone than an entire Apple store full of Apple geniuses? Edit: Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) have mall kiosks, for those doubting authorization.
- throwawayboise 5y ago
  Skilled perhaps. Authorized? No. At least not by Apple.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
- bipson 5y ago
  Ah, when talking about authorized: Several repairs on iPhones and other Apple hardware are exactly that: not authorized by Apple, unless done by Apple itself.
- GuB-42 5y ago
  That guy in the mall kiosk makes money by fixing phones. Apple makes money by selling new phones, and geniuses are paid to follow a script.
  - ls15 5y ago
    > That guy in the mall kiosk makes money by fixing phones. Apple makes money by selling new phones, and geniuses are paid to follow a script. Telling customers that the phone cannot be repaired is deceptive though when it actually can be repaired. That's where I would expect regulators to step in. The honest answer would have been: "We are not competent to repair your phone. Maybe someone else can repair it."
    - milkytron 5y ago
      > The honest answer would have been: "We are not competent to repair your phone. Maybe someone else can repair it." They may or may not be competent to repair the phone, but Apple probably doesn't permit them to. So it might be more accurate to say that they aren't allowed to repair the phone, but what they _can_ do is sell you a new one.
    - thrill 5y ago
      As shown so well in Doc Hollywood anything can be repaired with enough expertise and effort. A store employee saying something cannot be repaired is not going to be viewed by anyone, including a regulator, as meaning anything other than by the store employees either by capability or policy.
- vangelis 5y ago
  Harry Tuttle, cellphone repairman, at your service.
- rasz 5y ago
  > Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) have mall kiosks AASPs are prohibited from doing component level repair, they are only allowed to sent the phone to apple for anything more than major component (screen battery camera) swap. The story would look exactly the same, motherboard problem = $560.
sigmar 5y ago
Seems like a scam that they are portraying these people as "genius" level repair services in order to trick customers into (unknowingly) giving apple their repairable devices.
- ilrwbwrkhv 5y ago
  Yes but aren't people who think they are geniuses the actual idiots? I guess we should protect idiots but can we?
  - hetspookjee 5y ago
    In general one falling for a scam doesn’t make one an idiot. Though on the other hand it might also be a slick Nigerian prince kinda of filter to push even more stuff onto whoever falls for this genius trick.
  - colpabar 5y ago
    I don't think it's idiotic at all to think that employees of an apple store would be more qualified to fix an iphone than someone in a phone repair kiosk at a mall.
    - taylodl 5y ago
      I've had several friends and family use those "we fix phones" places to fix their iPhone. They're often their own form of a scam - you pay $100 and they "fix" your phone for 30-90 days. I've seen it happen many times.
      - leephillips 5y ago
        How exactly do they do this?
        jjeaff 5y ago
        They usually use batteries that are not the best. But the good kiosks will offer at least a one year warranty on the new battery.
js2 5y ago
Apple replaced the trackpad on a 2017 non-retina MacBook Air for me in-store last month. It was $130. $51 parts and $79 labor ("HARDWARE REPAIR-LEVEL 1"). They are definitely capable of on-site hardware repairs. Further, if the repair doesn't fix the problem, it's no charge. My only annoyance with Apple this time was that this MBA was like one month past its Applecare expiration and Apple wouldn't provide any sort of "customer good will" exception. My sob story about how much money I've spent with Apple going back decades was met only with: "sorry, policy." I don't know why OP had such a different experience. Seems like a misdiagnosis if the kiosk person was able to repair it so quickly.
- Covzire 5y ago
  Trackpads are usually pretty easy to replace, hardest part is taking the laptop apart, unplugging the tiny cable without damaging anything and reversing the procedure. I've watched quite a few Apple repair videos, most of them with burned out chips, diodes or capacitors that require re-soldering, a skill I assure you the vast majority of "genius" bar employees don't possess nor do the stores even have the necessary tools on hand.
  - js2 5y ago
    I was refuting "if anything is broken in hardware to send it back to the mothership for repair/replace" which is not true. They are capable of replacing components. In OP's case, they obviously misdiagnosed that the entire logic board needed replacement. OP never said what the kiosk employee needed to do to get the phone operational, but given that it took less than two minutes, they likely didn't re-solder anything either.

Bud 5y ago

Correct. Genius Bar folks are not hardware-repair folks.

bduerst 5y ago

Isn't that the problem though? That someone in a mall kiosk is more skilled and authorized to fix a phone than an entire Apple store full of Apple geniuses? Edit: Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) have mall kiosks, for those doubting authorization.

throwawayboise 5y ago
Skilled perhaps. Authorized? No. At least not by Apple.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
bipson 5y ago
Ah, when talking about authorized: Several repairs on iPhones and other Apple hardware are exactly that: not authorized by Apple, unless done by Apple itself.
GuB-42 5y ago
That guy in the mall kiosk makes money by fixing phones. Apple makes money by selling new phones, and geniuses are paid to follow a script.
- ls15 5y ago
  > That guy in the mall kiosk makes money by fixing phones. Apple makes money by selling new phones, and geniuses are paid to follow a script. Telling customers that the phone cannot be repaired is deceptive though when it actually can be repaired. That's where I would expect regulators to step in. The honest answer would have been: "We are not competent to repair your phone. Maybe someone else can repair it."
  - milkytron 5y ago
    > The honest answer would have been: "We are not competent to repair your phone. Maybe someone else can repair it." They may or may not be competent to repair the phone, but Apple probably doesn't permit them to. So it might be more accurate to say that they aren't allowed to repair the phone, but what they _can_ do is sell you a new one.
  - thrill 5y ago
    As shown so well in Doc Hollywood anything can be repaired with enough expertise and effort. A store employee saying something cannot be repaired is not going to be viewed by anyone, including a regulator, as meaning anything other than by the store employees either by capability or policy.
vangelis 5y ago
Harry Tuttle, cellphone repairman, at your service.
rasz 5y ago
> Apple Authorized Service Providers (AASP) have mall kiosks AASPs are prohibited from doing component level repair, they are only allowed to sent the phone to apple for anything more than major component (screen battery camera) swap. The story would look exactly the same, motherboard problem = $560.

sigmar 5y ago

Seems like a scam that they are portraying these people as "genius" level repair services in order to trick customers into (unknowingly) giving apple their repairable devices.

ilrwbwrkhv 5y ago
Yes but aren't people who think they are geniuses the actual idiots? I guess we should protect idiots but can we?
- hetspookjee 5y ago
  In general one falling for a scam doesn’t make one an idiot. Though on the other hand it might also be a slick Nigerian prince kinda of filter to push even more stuff onto whoever falls for this genius trick.
- colpabar 5y ago
  I don't think it's idiotic at all to think that employees of an apple store would be more qualified to fix an iphone than someone in a phone repair kiosk at a mall.
  - taylodl 5y ago
    I've had several friends and family use those "we fix phones" places to fix their iPhone. They're often their own form of a scam - you pay $100 and they "fix" your phone for 30-90 days. I've seen it happen many times.
    - leephillips 5y ago
      How exactly do they do this?
      - jjeaff 5y ago
        They usually use batteries that are not the best. But the good kiosks will offer at least a one year warranty on the new battery.

js2 5y ago

Apple replaced the trackpad on a 2017 non-retina MacBook Air for me in-store last month. It was $130. $51 parts and $79 labor ("HARDWARE REPAIR-LEVEL 1"). They are definitely capable of on-site hardware repairs. Further, if the repair doesn't fix the problem, it's no charge. My only annoyance with Apple this time was that this MBA was like one month past its Applecare expiration and Apple wouldn't provide any sort of "customer good will" exception. My sob story about how much money I've spent with Apple going back decades was met only with: "sorry, policy." I don't know why OP had such a different experience. Seems like a misdiagnosis if the kiosk person was able to repair it so quickly.

Covzire 5y ago
Trackpads are usually pretty easy to replace, hardest part is taking the laptop apart, unplugging the tiny cable without damaging anything and reversing the procedure. I've watched quite a few Apple repair videos, most of them with burned out chips, diodes or capacitors that require re-soldering, a skill I assure you the vast majority of "genius" bar employees don't possess nor do the stores even have the necessary tools on hand.
- js2 5y ago
  I was refuting "if anything is broken in hardware to send it back to the mothership for repair/replace" which is not true. They are capable of replacing components. In OP's case, they obviously misdiagnosed that the entire logic board needed replacement. OP never said what the kiosk employee needed to do to get the phone operational, but given that it took less than two minutes, they likely didn't re-solder anything either.