No doubt, you’ve heard that the Apple Store has announced a new program for business called Joint Venture. Apple has priced Joint Venture at $500.

Apple says they will “Set You Up” and work with you from beginning to end to set up new computers so that they are ready within 24-hours. Generally speaking, the same service from MacMedics can be obtained in the same amount of time, plus we offer either in-lab data transfer and set up or we can do the same at your home or office. There’s no reason to pay a premium to quickly get a new computer set up.

The $500 fee that Apple charges is for only five computers, so if you have more than five computers you’ll need to pay more. Also, many Apple customers have fewer than 5 Macs, so by paying for a subscription to support for more, you’re likely wasting money. At MacMedics we can design a Mac service and support program that’s right for your situation and at a price that’s affordable for you!

Apple’s Joint Venture program also has a training aspect, which is great in theory, but will you ever use it? Have you ever been to the Apple Store? It’s not usually well suited for corporate training.

MacMedics can also perform training for you and your staff at our office or yours. If you need us to train you or your staff, you can be sure that you’re getting the very best in real-world Macintosh experience and that the information we convey will be custom tailored to your needs and not “cookie cutter” general knowledge training. Pay for the training to you need when you need it, and if you need it. There’s a reason why we’ve provided training for organizations like Network Solutions, Under Armour, and the Salvation Army.

Apple says “For the first time ever, you can speak to an Apple Genius over the phone”. Well, this is nothing new to us. You’ve always been able to call MacMedics and speak to a Macintosh Certified Expert over the phone. To us, it appears that Joint Venture is primarily designed to give you “paid access” to your local Apple Store. At MacMedics, we love to talk shop and if you need basic support, advice, or guidance, just pick up the phone and give us a call. There’s never a charge to speak to technician. If you need advanced support and/or remote desktop support you can pay for just what you need and you don’t need a contract or a subscription to call. In fact you don’t even need to be a MacMedics client to pick up the phone and call us!

The Joint Venture program also offers a loaner MacBook Pro or MacBook Air that you can use if you computer is in for repair. We have two thoughts on this topic:

1. If you really need loaner protection, why not enroll your Macintosh in our Service Partner Program. With this program we’ll come to your office, loan you a computer (if needed) and fix any hardware issue for free. Our program offers more valuable benefits (like free covered repairs) then Apple’s Joint Venture and if you only have 2 or 3 computers our Service Partner Program can cost less then Joint Venture!

2. If you need a rental unit while your computer is in for service, we can supply a low-cost rental (if you enroll in Service Partner then this is free). The other thing to remember that is that A. we never send computers out to Apple Depot Service so our repairs are usually much, much quicker than the Apple Store Genius Bar, and B. MacMedics is so fast, you may not even need a rental computer.

MacMedics has two very affordable service programs for our clients to use.

MacMedics Walk-In Service Plan:

This ultra-affordable service plan is designed for clients who want to come to us and have one or a small group of computers they want to have protected.

There are several great benefits:

1. Low Cost – It’s priced at $99 or $149 depending on your computer
2. Priority Service – If you’re a WISP member, your repair moves to the front of the line!
3. Covered Hardware Repairs – Any part that fails on your computer (minus the battery), we replace it for free! No Part cost AND No Labor cost.
4. Free Technical Support – With the WISP program you get three 15-minute technical support incidents per year. On the phone, in person or via remote desktop support.
5. Free Data Migration – If you buy a new Mac or your want to move your data to a new computer while enrolled. We’ll transfer your data for free. (Limit 1 time per year)

Pricing:

$99 for MacBooks, Mac Minis, and iMacs
$149 for MacBook Pros, and Mac Pros

MacMedics Service Partner Program:

For MacMedics clients that need Advanced On-Site Mac Support, we proudly offer the MacMedics Service Partner Program.

There are three main benefits:

1. 6-Hour On-site Response – Got a problem? Hardware or software, we come to you and in no less then 6-hours.
2. Free Loaner Equipment – If we cannot fix your computer on-site, we’ll supply a free loaner Mac while we get yours all fixed up.
3. Free Parts & Labor – All hardware repairs are covered. All parts and all labor

Pricing:

$99 for Mac Minis
$199 for MacBooks and iMacs
$249 for MacBook Pros, and Mac Pros

Plus if your Mac is still under AppleCare or under Apple’s Warranty, and you want to enroll is our Service Partner Program, we do offer a discount.

Here’s a Blog post from Fortune by Philip Elmer-DeWitt that seems to call Apple’s new Joint Venture program out a bit.

One of our clients posted this on-line in response to the following comment:

Statement:

When a Mac owner has an issue they go to a genius bar.

Response:

Genius Bar? Never used it. I use MacMedics, one of the best Mac places on the East Coast. I buy my computers from them and they do all my periodic maintenance, and I consult with them whenever I have questions. Been with them ever since I started using a Mac over 15 years ago, and have never steered me wrong.

http://www.macmedics.com/

Setting up a new Macintosh can be overwhelming. There are often a number of new applications that need to be installed and unfamiliar tasks that need to be performed. When you combine all of these new things at once with the excitement of a new computer installation and a complex data transfer, often, crucial elements can be overlooked.

MacMedics offers One-On-One Macintosh training for our clients. We’ll consult with you at your home or office (or our office) to help you get everything you need working, without overlooking something important like your back up system.

We can help with:

• iCal Mobile Me Syncing
• iPhone, iPod, or iPad Syncing
• iPhoto photo importing and management
• Time Machine and Time Capsule set up
• Off-site back ups
• Basic Macintosh operation

Most MacMedics Technicians have more than 10-years of hands-on Macintosh experience. Our passion is the Macintosh platform, and for over 21 years, we’ve been helping new and experienced Macintosh users make their Macs perform the tasks that are crucial to their needs.

Set up your own One-On-One Macintosh training session today! Call us at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS

When MacMedics performs an Apple Warranty or AppleCare repair for one of our clients, Apple sends a follow up e-mail to ask how we did. These are some of the mini-reviews that we have received.

#1 The service I received at MacMedics was very good and they always called me and left messages updating the status and progress of my computer.
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#2 I loved being able to walk in talk to a rep and have the work started right away. They have great customer service they always keep me up to date on their progress and explain their work and my service options every step of the way.
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#3 They were awesome. Nuff said. Dana runs a great show there.
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#4 They were fantastic. The service was quick the people were friendly and willing to answer all of my questions.

These are anonymous comments, so if one of these Apple Warranty or AppleCare reviews for MacMedics is yours, thank you!

If you need Apple Macintosh please consider visiting MacMedics in Millersville or Lanham instead of trekking to your local Apple Store. You never need an appointment, we’re 10 steps from your car, We’re cheaper, we’re faster (most warranty repairs are completed in 24 hours), and above all we’re accurate! We only fix what needs fixing.

While MacMedics is not lucky enough to sell the iPhone 3G S, we have been getting hammered with the crowds. Why’s that you ask? Well, new MacMedics clients have been having a hard time getting an appointment with an Apple Genius because of the crowds looking for or picking up a new iPhone.

We’d like to remind all of the Apple users in the Baltimore-Washington area that you never need an appointment to come see a MacMedic and you won’t have to drag your Mac though the mall either. When you see a crowd at the mall that means that there is often an equal amount of Macs waiting to be serviced in the back. MacMedics is also proud to perform ALL Macintosh MacBook AND MacBook Pro repairs in house. What does this mean for you? It means that your service is faster, because we don’t ship hard or difficult repairs off to Apple depot service. It also means that we’ll pinpoint the problem and fix only what’s wrong which means that you’ll only pay for the parts you need.

Apple also has issues with laptops that have HAD liquid damage or units with large dents on them. We can fix the problem you have and we WON’T force you fix the other issues if you don’t mind work around the dents and/or dings.

See our post on our NINE reasons why NOT to wait in line at the Apple Store for more info on this topic.