I went to an Apple store and all I heard was bad news

I’m actually quite emotional.

So when I heard the bad news, I had to do something.

You see, Bloomberg had signaled that Apple would not increase production of the iPhone 14 — yes, all iPhone 14 models — because demand wasn’t quite what the company had hoped for.

So I immediately went to an Apple store to see what was going on. Would there be cries of anguish and the tearing of blue T-shirts? Would there be a gnashing of teeth and a rustling of faces?

Also: I made a huge mistake Apple Watch

I sometimes go to Apple stores soon after they open, hoping there will be less people and more attention from sales associates.

So there I was, at 10:02 a.m. on a weekday morning, expecting to find a large open space.

Instead, there were at least 30 customers inside.

What was happening? Why were these people here? What was wrong with them? Hadn’t they slept? Hadn’t they heard?

What do we have? We have bad news

I walked around and headed to one of the two iPhone 14 tables. I picked up the iPhone 14 Prowhich, according to top experts, is a substantial improvement over any predecessor.

I took a Space Black. With its less glossy back, it was slightly easier to hold than my iPhone 12. Especially since I’d rather eat maggot pie than buy an iPhone case.

Oddly enough, no Apple Store salesperson came to tell me about the latest little machine. Instead, an elderly couple were helped to the same table. They didn’t need to be sold.

“I want an iPhone 14,” the woman said unprompted. “And he will get the same.”

“What color would you like?” asked the Apple saleswoman.

Also: I went to an Apple store and saw the saddest employee in the world

“We do not care?” answered the customer. Then she turned to her husband and said, “You always lose yours, so the color isn’t really important, is it?”

At that, I laugh.

At my laughter, the woman pointed at me and said, “And he’s paying for that.”

I laughed again, apologized for my intrusion, and couldn’t resist commenting on the status of his current case. She chuckled.

But still no Apple seller came. So I tried to see what the dynamic island looked like. (Like a nicely stretched notch.)

Also: I had a nightmare about Apple’s iPhone 14 Dynamic Island (so I contacted Apple)

Then another customer came to the table, accompanied by an Apple salesperson.

He could only give her bad news: “Yeah, we don’t have any at the moment. We were hoping for a delivery in the next few hours, but we never know if and when it will really arrive.”

She wanted a 512 GB model in space black. The seller replied that it looked like they had some in two other stores. Each was about 20 miles away.

But what if you come all the way and they’re sold out and you don’t know when their next delivery is?

I didn’t see a lack of demand for these phones – or for anything other than the Apple Watch. This table was completely empty. The rest, a little buzzy.

Also: I ran the Apple Watch Ultra through the Tough Mudder. Here’s how it held up

I needed Air

So, distraught at being ignored, I moved onto the MacBook Air table. I hemmed, hawing and gnawed on whether to get a Midnight MacBook Air M2.

I played with it for a while. I even went to the Amazon site and saw it was $100 cheaper than the Apple Store.

Still no seller found me cat worthy. Two were standing a few meters away and talking to each other.

If they had a 1TB Midnight M2 Air in stock, I would have bought it right away. But, given the bad news I’d heard elsewhere about possibly delivering, I suspected they wouldn’t.

Also: Apple’s new MacBook Air M2. Why do I hate myself for wanting it

So what else could I do but go back to the iPhone table? This time, another customer was told that the chosen dark purple iPhone 14 Pro was not in stock there. But a store, yes, 20 miles away had some.

“Or, if you order from our website, you could get it by, let’s see, October 4,” the seller said.

tell me something good

It was northern California. I wouldn’t say for a moment that it’s representative of the rest of America – or even any other part of California. Or, frankly, anywhere except maybe parts of Austin, TX.

But it seemed the Apple Store had become the Bad News Bears emporium.

If you don’t care about color – or, indeed, if you don’t care which variant of iPhone you want – this store might have something for you.

Also: Which iPhone is best for you and how do the different models compare?

If you were looking to be sold, however, I’m afraid now isn’t the day. And I’m afraid it happened a few days ago to quite a few people lately.

Does this mean a lack of demand? Or could it suggest a lack of perfect demand planning on Apple’s part?

Yes, the iPhone 14 doesn’t look drastically different from my iPhone 12, although the camera bumps do look a lot bigger. But I was ready to be sold, ready to listen to at least some better and better reasoning.

Instead, I spent 24 minutes in the store, and not a soul of a salesman came near.

I may be emotional, but I wasn’t hurt.

Well, maybe a little. It’s not like I’m demanding, is it?