Genius Bar - Spinoffs/offshoots

Spinoffs/offshoots

The Studio and the iPod bar, two offshoots of the Genius Bar concept, are present in many new and renovated stores.

• The Studio is staffed by "trainers" who serve customers with questions about many Apple consumer and pro applications, such as iLife, iWork, Final Cut Pro, and Aperture. Third party applications are not officially supported.
• The iPod Bar serves to separate out the customers with iPod-related questions to allow the Genius Bar to focus on customers with Macintosh-specific queries.

Pro Labs and Open Lab were introduced with the opening of the Apple Store on West 14th Street in New York City, while Pro Labs is also offered at the Sydney, Australia Apple Store and the Pudong, China Apple Store. Open Lab to date is only offered at the West 14th Street location.

• Pro Labs consist of eight hours of training, spread across a series of four two-hour sessions. Much like The Studio, these sessions focus on Apple's "Pro Apps" such as Aperture and Final Cut Pro, as well as other third-party applications such as Photoshop, however, they are much more in-depth and focused than sessions at The Studio.
• Open Lab provides first-come, first-served assistance to customers with various applications, much like the early days of the Genius Bar, but with an emphasis on software as opposed to the Genius Bar's focus on hardware.

Apple has also branded features in their iTunes application "Genius" that make musical suggestions based on your observed taste.

• The Guru Bar is Microsoft's spin on the Genius Bar. It is located inside Microsoft's new retail stores helping customers with technical issues from hardware to software.