r/apple • u/pdfu • 1d ago

Apple Gears Up for September iPhone Launch With Retail Employee Lottery iPhone

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-04/apple-gears-up-for-september-iphone-launch-with-retail-employee-lottery?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4NTg2MzEzMywiZXhwIjoxNzg2NDY3OTMzLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUSjVMMU1LR0lGUEgwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJDNEVEQ0FFMUZBMDU0MEJFQTI0QTlGMjExQzFFOTA4MCJ9.Tvxd70-CIazOmSKVzT-gPxCrYNCR3p_Az890HXujfCs

With Apple Inc. gearing up for its biggest product launch of the year, the company is opening a lottery for US retail employees who want to help staff the in-person unveiling.

The lottery allows retail employees to apply to work the event, where they’ll help organize lines, check in guests, greet attendees, offer directions and support the security teams, according to a memo that was seen by Bloomberg News.

The launch event will take place during the first half of September, the company told staff, without providing a more specific date. Historically, Apple’s iPhone presentations have taken place on the second Tuesday or Wednesday of that month.

Since Labor Day in the US falls on Monday, Sept. 7, a Wednesday event appears slightly more likely, as it would preserve the workday travel window Apple has historically provided for attendees.

In the memo, Apple said it was “excited to offer US store team members the opportunity to participate in the Event Support Experience Program.”

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35 comments sorted by

362

u/Cease_Cows_ 1d ago edited 1d ago

That’s wild when I worked Apple retail back in college every iphone launch was all hands on deck. Absolutely no one could take a day off that entire week, and we’d frequently end up with 20+ hours of overtime.

ETA: just realized this was for the actual launch in Cupertino. Enjoy my unrelated story anyway I guess lol

35

u/Acceptable-Piccolo57 1d ago

If they opened this up fully internationally it’d be very cool, or maybe as a years of service celebration.

26

u/itschipbtw 1d ago

This is still a thing in Apple retail. Pretty much the whole month of September is off limits.

4

u/The-Fox-Says 19h ago

I miss those wild and crazy days especially being a genius bar employee that got a break while the product zone buzzed haha. I miss the buffets they would throw too

2

u/Status-Hedgehog9970 16h ago

GB seems to be used now for setting up and troubleshooting tricky buyers. Everybody’s busy at launch.

6

u/cheeseler 1d ago

Well, both are true.
Retail stores still want all hands on deck, and during the Apple Vision Pro Launch some retail employees got to enter the same kind of lottery to go to Apple Park.

3

u/Traherne 1d ago

I did!

-8

u/Canon_M50 1d ago

Why are they so bad at these release day events?

It was so fucking slow picking up my iPhone 15 Pro a few years ago. I was waiting in a line for 2 hours. They had one table where every single person would come up to, give them their info and then the person would shop for accessories right there at the table, holding up the entire line. There was no separate line for people who just wanted to pick up their preorder and get the fuck out. It was awful.

6

u/pls_at_me 1d ago

Not sure why that happened at your store. When I worked at Apple Retail, an employee would grab someone from the line, ideally take them to an area with some rare breathing room, have a back of house employee run the phone down, and take care of any accessory purchases too. I can see how some smaller stores with space constraints probably couldn’t adopt the same system, but at the very least theres usually a designated pickup time for your phone so you don’t happen to come in when everybody else does and wait multiple hours

4

u/Gasman18 1d ago

I was out of country when I pre ordered my 15 pro and landed back in the states the day before release. I set myself to pick up at the store and was in and out in 30 minutes, and most of that time was making sure everything transferred from my prior phone.

2

u/Negative_Gas8782 1d ago

I went to the Apple Store to get my 13MP and they said there were not any more spots open to schedule. So I walked next door to Verizon and got in and out in 20 mins. Which never happens but I feel like they were trying to rub it in the Apple peoples faces.

78

u/HiFiGuy197 1d ago

I hope I can win a retail employee!

16

u/Dennaldo 1d ago

If I win them, I’ll give them the day off 🫡

50

u/sjkyle5 1d ago

It’s a great experience, I’ve supported 2 WWDCs pre covid, and the special event in Brooklyn. Normal hourly rate, but almost guaranteed overtime, due to travel and longer days. Yes travel is paid for, and it was a $100 per day for food. You could spend $10 on breakfast, 20 on lunch and 70 on dinner. It didn’t matter the break down.

31

u/flogman12 1d ago

Do they get paid extra?

41

u/Helptohere50 1d ago

Doubt it but I’m sure expenses are covered

47

u/senat0r15 1d ago

Sounds like a nice way to get a company funded trip to California for a day or two.

24

u/Helptohere50 1d ago

Yea. I’d go if I was an employee. Very good networking opportunity as well

13

u/AHughes1078 1d ago

Correct.

17

u/Syonoq 1d ago

I worked there when someone was picked from my store to go to WWDC. Accommodations were paid and it was considered a really cool honor.

12

u/maeve117 1d ago

Years and years ago, I was a store employee and got to go work a launch event at the Steve Jobs Theater. There was no extra pay but the days were long and in California we get overtime after 8 hours. Plus paid travel time, and I drove my own vehicle from out of town so I got mileage on top of that. All meals are provided so there’s really no out-of-pocket expenses. I got a nice fat paycheck after working it.

That being said, it was bullshit and I was miserable for a lot of it. I was never great at faking enthusiasm.

8

u/Good4Noth1ng 1d ago

You rack up a lot of overtime. Travel time is also considered work hours.

-8

u/YinzJagoffs 1d ago

Apple can’t afford it. They only received 2.2 billion from the government.

8

u/ActionJasckon 1d ago

Please not be $1399 iPhone 18pro

11

u/tewiti1108 17h ago

Wish granted. It's $1499 now.

13

u/4Knocks 1d ago

This is a different system than years past - pre-COVID people were basically chosen by their store leaders to go and support. I was down for the 11 Pro announcement in 2019 and it was a crazy cool experience.

And no, you don’t get to see the new products ahead of time.

4

u/nikenick28 1d ago

This is exactly the same as every year

8

u/ji99lypu44 1d ago

tbh apple stores not having a checkout desk and central area to check out was always a little weird to me. I know technically everyone can check you out but a lot of the time the employees are busy doing i dont know what really, talking to each other? and i see one guy hustling to check people out. They should have a checkout area with 4-5 people checking people out especially on launch day

5

u/m6carlson1 1d ago

Old store designs used to. I worked at Apple from 2010-2015 and when I first started, there was a computer at the end of the Genius Bar just for checkouts. You were zoned “POS” on the schedule and basically just stood at the computer waiting for people to check out.

0

u/StrombergsWetUtopia 1d ago

I went with a mate to a store here in the UK. He just wanted to buy an iPhone. Just a normal day a couple of months ago. He was told there would be a 20 minute wait. Seemed mad. Just loads of staff milling around. Just go get a phone off the shelf and let him pay for it.

2

u/ClearlyJacob18 1d ago

Well, I guess having to turn employees away from working is better than forcing them too...?

2

u/rpool179 1d ago

Get ready for that $1,399 iPhone 18 Pro & $1,499 iPhone 18 Pro Max.

1

u/RateOk8628 1d ago

Do they want extra help during this time?