How Apple Store Employees Are Preparing for iPhone Launch Days

In my almost six years with the company, I worked in nearly every Apple Store in the Dallas-Forth Worth area.

Whenever there was a new start, I always volunteered for the night shifts and stayed all day. Every one of them came down to the last minute.

Until 2019 — when the reservation system was introduced — the only time there was any buzz was when a new iPhone was coming out. There were never lines for new watches or new Macs — it was always just new iPhones.

Preparations for premiere day began a week earlier.

In the week leading up to launch, we received a range of equipment that our superiors kept under lock and key until the night before launch.

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The evening would start at 10:00 p.m. We would gather and the leaders would come in and take everyone’s cell phones, Apple Watches, and computers and put them in safes.

From that point on, we weren’t allowed to leave the store or use our phones without the manager’s supervision. We weren’t hostages or anything, but it was very, very secret, even though everyone knew what was going to happen.

So we stayed up all night to get all the old devices out of the store and replace them with new ones.

You couldn’t take pictures or record. You couldn’t talk about anything or test the device. They wanted the launch day to be special, and the first reactions came from real customers, not Apple employees. Completely understandable.

This was more than just replacing devices with new ones and recycling old ones — or whatever else Apple decided to do with older devices.

When it comes to new chargers or accessories, rerouting cables under the plain-colored tables at Apple stores can be complicated. At times, we had to update dozens of devices throughout the store, and some required us to disarm the store’s security alarm before we could unplug them.

The next day we would go until 6 or 7 a.m. It was definitely a lot of work, but always super fun.

On release day, virtually everyone was a salesperson.

If management allows, we can stay for the first few hours to work on the opening if we’re not too tired. Usually everyone goes home after that, but I was one of the few Geniuses who worked on the technical reservations for the opening days.

For the rest of the technical team, it was the one day of the year when they were told, “You are no longer technical. You are now sales.”

The store was usually fully booked and focused on sales, not device issues. We only allowed technical reservations and didn’t walk in unannounced unless the person’s phone was completely dead and unusable.

My hours were long, but only when I wanted to stay. Some leaders would say, “No, brother. You’ve been here all night. Go home.”

No matter where you are, Apple complies with California regulations, which means mandatory breaks every three hours. They were very particular about the hours we worked, and we were never, ever required to work longer hours.

While the enthusiasm around the company’s live launch had waned by the time I left Apple in 2022, there were always two distinct groups.

There were people who had already made up their minds before seeing the phone that they would buy it no matter what. It didn’t matter if Apple took away features—they wanted whatever the company gave them.

And there were also those who came after the premiere completely by accident – they were more interested in testing the phones to see what they were all about.

When it comes to the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence, the AI ​​buzz is real across the industry. I didn’t expect Apple to be so big on AI. They usually take a few years when new software comes out to make sure they’re doing it right.

But Apple always does great things in software, so developing AI is perfect for them.

Apple did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

Are you a current or former Apple employee with insights to share? Contact reporter Jordan Hart via the encrypted messaging app Signal (jordanhart.99) or by email ([email protected])from a device that does not meet official requirements.