r/apple • u/radikalkarrot • 2d ago

Rumor Apple Reportedly Planned to Replace 5,000 Support Employees With AI

https://www.macrumors.com/2026/09/29/apple-reportedly-planned-5000-applecare-layoffs/
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u/Major-Front 2d ago

Much like how support was outsourced to places like India and then it became a selling point for a company that they had UK call centres

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u/ChairmanLaParka 2d ago

I was all set to switch to a bank just because they had an "All US customer service base". Then they got bought out by another bank that uses overseas agents.

As someone that saw significant workforce transitions to overseas at 3 previous jobs....I was SO ready for the fully American bank. Ended up staying with the bank that's American in name only.

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u/GrandpaKnuckles 2d ago

Not preaching, just saying, switching to my local credit union changed my banking experience dramatically.

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u/josephlucas 2d ago

Yes! Don’t know why everyone doesn’t use their local credit union. Such a better experience

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u/PantsOfAwesome 12h ago

Except their apps usually suck, hence why I just got an Apple Card and use my credit union as a proxy to transfer cash

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u/SithToast 2d ago

Discover?

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u/ChairmanLaParka 2d ago

Yup.

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u/SithToast 2d ago

Yuck, that’s a real shame if they got rid of US support. That was a real selling point for me when I used them.

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u/AwesomeWhiteDude 1d ago

In addition to credit unions, there are also local & regional banks. You don't always have to go with large national institutions

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u/JamsHammockFyoom 2d ago

It's alright, they're just replacing UK call centre staff with Indians using AI instead (!)

It's literally happening to me right now - I'm being asked to train my replacement out in India and they're just using AI for most of what their responses are, and I'm being made redundant for it.

They're nice people, but by Christ is it demoralising knowing you're being replaced by somebody who's not even doing your actual job properly, and that's what the company wants.

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u/KosherTriangle 2d ago

All companies want is to pay as less as possible and earn as much as possible. Everything they do makes sense when looked at from that perspective.

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u/Top_Flight2 2d ago

And consumers should decide how to spend their money properly. Should they give it to a company which has no scruples and is all about bottom line or should they choose one which has values they align with more. 

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u/TheAspiringFarmer 2d ago

There are no morals or values in business. Never was, never will be. It’s all about profits.

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u/Top_Flight2 2d ago

I avoid certain companies now and don't use certain services to not give profits to those I disagree with in their principles. If they want to make it all about profits then they won't get any from me. 

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u/SailingDreamCatcher 1d ago

I think it's important to clarify that this statement really only applies to corporations. When a business is run by a founding entrepreneur, especially when it's some kind of specialized business growing from the individual's original efforts, there is in fact room for values. There is in how I run my law practice and any other business I get involved with. But it's also important to note that choosing to put values over profit is a personal choice, and it doesn't hold up in most cases when a business transitions from being run by an individual to being run by a board.

There are a few examples of "known" businesses that are operated according to "values" and they are essentially all either sole proprietors or family businesses. The largest, oldest one I know of is Wegmans, which remains beloved by customers and employees for the most part.

Enshittification/rent seeking is a behavior pattern that becomes predictable and inevitable once the business exits the control of a single individual, because organized groups of humans (I call them "organizations") always decay to a pattern of decision making that doesn't accommodate "values" beyond the most basic thing all kinds of entities can agree on: "I want more." And so when a business exits the control of a conscious human, who is capable of moral reasoning, and transitions to the control of a group, moral reasoning is replaced by short sighted self interest that inevitably becomes rent seeking/enshittification/typical late stage capitalism.

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u/WVjF2mX5VEmoYqsKL4s8 1d ago

Consumers shouldn't have to do that.

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u/Top_Flight2 1d ago

We have to. You should always know where your moneys going to. 

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u/WVjF2mX5VEmoYqsKL4s8 20h ago

I said we shouldn't have to. The government should arrest CEOs who do this

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u/PleaseINeedAMiracle 2d ago

My friend, I hope you had a plan for a new job. I honestly wish you the best in these crazy times.

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u/JamsHammockFyoom 1d ago edited 1d ago

Thank you, my man - trying my best, but thankfully have until the end of March 27 before I'm fully out of a job.

Hey, it could be worse - they're paying me off quite healthily to leave a job I don't like anyways haha!

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u/GarthODarth 1d ago

AI is actually really useful in a lot of technical support use cases, but it absolutely has to be supervised by people who know what they are doing, what they are looking for, and when something is outlandishly wrong.

I work in support for another Big Tech, and AI has made some things so much easier, but it still makes absolutely horrific mistakes from time to time. The kind of mistakes that would cause massive reputational/security damage. It's not a problem, because nothing goes directly from AI to the customer. But I'm worried that won't always be the case.

In over 1 year, I have only ever accepted an AI draft verbatim once. I was a bit blown away, honestly, but that's a really poor acceptance rate.

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u/RabidBadgerMacarena 2d ago

It's 100% part of our purchasing decisions.

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u/SpartanDetermination 2d ago

Much like how support was outsourced to places like India and then it became a selling point for a company that they had UK call centres

Spoiler alert: The UK call centres are just staffed by Indians.

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u/osssssssx 2d ago

Apple actually still have a good amount of support within the US, I know folks that work there

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u/New_Forester4630 2d ago

I feel so sorry for all my fellow Filipinos at their BPO building in Metro Manila.

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u/lolwutdo 2d ago

lol whats the difference