The Ultimate Apple Insider: Unveiling the Magic Behind the Annual iPhone Launch

*This article is based on Business Insider’s interview with a former Apple retail employee in Texas, who requested anonymity to protect their privacy. BI has verified the individual’s identity and employment. The content has also been edited for length and clarity.

I started working at Apple as a low-level sales associate in 2016, and after a few years of hard work, I became the head of the Genius Bar (the tech support area within an Apple Store).

During my nearly six-year tenure with the company, I worked at most of the Apple Store locations in the Dalas-Forth Worth area.

Whenever a new product was launched, I always volunteered for the night shift and stayed for the whole day. Shifts were almost always decided at the last minute.

During these product launches, there were hardly ever any lines for the new Apple Watch or Mac; it was always just for the iPhone. This lessened starting in 2019 when they implemented the pre-order system.

Preparations for the release day would begin a week in advance.

During the week leading up to the release, we would receive the shipment boxes, but the supervisors would keep them locked up until the night before the release.

The night shift on that day would start at 10 pm. We would gather, and the leadership team would collect everyone’s phones, watches, and computers and lock them away. From that point on, we were not allowed to leave the store or use our phones without a manager’s supervision.

Of course, we weren’t being held hostage or anything. It was simply to maintain absolute secrecy, even though everyone knew what was about to happen. We pulled an all-nighter to remove the old devices from the store and replace them with the new ones.

You were not allowed to take photos or record videos. You also weren’t allowed to talk about it or test the products. They wanted to keep the release day special, with the first reactions coming from actual customers instead of Apple employees. Perfectly understandable.

At times, things could get quite complicated when rerouting the wiring system underneath the display tables if there were new chargers or accessories. We had to replace dozens of machines throughout the store, and many of them required disabling the security alarms before they could be disconnected.

We would work until 6-7 am the next day. It was definitely a lot of work but always extremely exciting.

Everyone is a salesperson on launch day.

If the leadership allowed, we would stay for the first few hours of the launch day if we weren’t too exhausted. Usually, people would go home after that, but I was one of the few who provided technical support on launch days. For the rest of the tech team, it was the only day of the year they were told, “Now you’re a salesperson.”

The store would usually be packed, and the focus was more on sales than technical issues. We only took pre-booked tech support appointments, and you wouldn’t be allowed into the store unless your phone was unusable.

My shifts were very long, but I wanted to stay. Some leaders would say, “No, buddy. You’ve been here all night. Go home.” Regardless of where you were, Apple adhered to California’s rules, which meant mandatory breaks every 3 hours. They were very mindful of our working hours, and we were never asked to work overtime.

Although the excitement of witnessing iPhone release days firsthand had waned by the time I left Apple in 2022, there were always two distinct crowds.

There were those who had decided beforehand that they would buy the new phone no matter what. It didn’t matter what features Apple included or removed—they would buy whatever Apple sold.

Another group consisted of those who happened to walk in and wanted to see and test what the new phone was all about.

Regarding the iPhone 16 and Apple Intelligence, the hype around AI has pushed Apple to act. I didn’t think they would implement AI on the iPhone this quickly. Usually, they take a few years when new software is released to ensure it works correctly.

But Apple always does amazing things with software. So, this push for AI is well within their capabilities.