Apple will replace the latest iPhone 14 for retail store employees to make it easier for them to make sales, according to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman.
Apple retail store employees use iPhones as terminals of sale (PoS), and those devices are currently the iPhone XS, which launched in 2018, but they are somewhat outdated, struggle a bit to run the latest iOS, and don’t have enough battery life.
Gurman noted that many employees complain they have to replace older iPhones multiple times a day, sometimes even in the middle of a transaction, and Vox Media’s Parker Ortolani replied on Twitter that he saw an Apple specialist change phones in the middle of a transaction when he visited an Apple store. A former Apple retail store employee also mentioned that they change phones two to three times a day.
The iPhone XS looks the same as the iPhone X, but has a better camera and a faster A12 bionic chip. Five years later, though, it’s clear that these devices are out of step. iPhone XS will be the oldest iPhone model supported by iOS 17, so it makes sense that Apple would decide to replace these devices.
The iPhones used as point-of-sale terminals in Apple retail stores come in special boxes, and last year with the introduction of Tap to Pay, some Apple stores began using them to accept contactless payments directly, and employees can use them to send receipts to customers for purchases.
It’s unclear exactly when the devices will be replaced, expects this upgrade to be done gradually around the world.
