Even if you enter an Apple Store planning to walk out with a souped-up MacBook, you won’t. The laptop will need to be customized and shipped from elsewhere. What the store specialist will do is take you through the steps to order it from Apple.com, helpfully explaining the difference between gigabytes and gigahertz along the way. You can then choose to have the laptop shipped to the store – see the next tip for why you should choose this option – or your home.
They’ll Help Transfer Your Files, Too.
All those photos of the kids. All of that music and video. All of those documents and files. You want them off your old device and on to your new one. Apple Store employees won’t do all of the work for you, but they will help.
If you ordered a new laptop, have it shipped to the Apple Store. When it arrives, take your old laptop with you to the store. Ideally, you’ll also bring along the external drive you’ve used to back up your files. Ask an employee to help you migrate that data in the store. You’ll be able to access anything stored in the iCloud later, once your new machine is up and running.
They’ll Match Competitors’ Prices.
The old saw that there’s never a sale at the Apple Store isn’t true anymore. However, now that other retailers are selling Apple products – a relatively new phenomenon – there’s some undercutting.
Tell an Apple specialist if you want to buy your Apple product from an Apple Store but see a lower price at a traditional retailer such as Best Buy, Target, or Walmart. An Apple Store employee confirmed that they could get authorization to verify and match another store’s price. However, there’s a caveat: They won’t compare prices from warehouse clubs.
You Can Return Online Orders to a Store
Apple’s return policy isn’t exceptionally generous. Typically, you have just 14 days to return an item for a refund or exchange from the date you received it. That time frame is about on par with fellow electronics retailer Best Buy, but it’s a far cry from what’s offered by retailers with the best return policies.
