Some of the other Internet based firms that offer iPhone service and repair are now making a big deal out of how they now accept walk-in repairs, and that they also same day iPhone service. MacMedics has always offered same day iPhone and iPod service. Drop your sick iPhone or iPod off in the morning, and we’ll have it done by the end of the day (in almost every case).

Even if you send us your iPhone or iPod, we normally have it fixed and back on the FedEx truck the same day it arrives. If you need us to send you a pre-paid FedEx label, just e-mail us your name, address, and phone number, and we’ll e-mail you back a PDF of a label. We just add $10 onto your repair for this service.

Do you have a 3G iPhone and you’re in an extreme hurry? Well, MacMedics does offer the iPhone 3G “Apple” broken glass or LCD repair solution. We can replace the entire top half of your iPhone 3G while-you-wait in about 5 minutes. Same price as Apple, $199. If you become a MacMedics “fan” on Facebook, and we’ll knock $10 of any iPhone or iPod repair!

I recently updated my Blog post warning against Do-It-Yourself iPhone repairs. I’ve copied-n-pasted a teaser below for your reading enjoyment. If you care to read the updated post, you can find it here!

We are seeing more and more iPhones that have been damaged during do-it-yourself repairs. Folks, the videos you see on-line make it look very easy. There’s a reason for that, the companies that make these step-by-step videos on iPhone and iPod disassembly and repair are the same people that are selling all of the parts, tools, and supplies you need to perform the repairs. They want it to look as easy as possible and they often edit the video in their favor making it look like it’s easier then it really is and that it takes less time then it will take you. I can guarantee you that guy/gal in the video is NOT performing the repair you are watching for the FIRST time.

This blog post is a bit of rant, so if you’re already on the same page as me, and you think paying $20 to $30 plus parts cost, and getting FREE return shipping via FedEx to have my guys fix your iPhone right the first time, and you want to avoid the risk of trying it yourself then, just use this form. If you need us to e-mail you a pre-paid FedEx Express label we can do that too, and we’ll just add $10 onto your total repair. Questions? Just call us 1-866-MAC-MEDICS or Email us. 99% of the iPhones that reach us are fixed the same day the arrive, and we pack them back up and ship them back for next day FedEx delivery. If you’re local to the Baltimore-Washington DC area, then just drop your iPhone off in the morning, and we’ll have it done by the end of the day!

If you need more convincing, then keep reading. I love to talk shop!

MacMedics is pleased to announce that we are now performing all iPhone (first & second generation) and iPod touch repairs.

MacMedics will repair your 3G iPhone’s digitizer (the glass on the front of the unit) for $109.99.

Update 9/4/09: MacMedics is now also offering iPhone 3G S glass/digitizer repairs. Same deal as below for $129.99. Show us that you follow us on Twitter or Facebook and get $10 off (for a limited time).

Here’s what our service includes:

1. Same day service. Drop it off in the morning, and pick it up in the afternoon!

3. FREE One-way FedEx Express shipping. Send your broken or sick iPhone to us and we’ll repair it and pick up the return FedEx Overnight shipping. If needed, we can arrange to send you a pre-paid FedEx label as a PDF via e-mail, and you can securely pack and ship your phone to us for $10 extra. If you live or work near our shop in Millersville, MD (5 minutes from BWI airport) you can drop it off in the morning and in most cases pick it up in the afternoon.

Having your iPhone repaired locally makes good sense, as you don’t have to worry about shipping it to the West Coast (or who knows where!) or when you’ll get your iPhone back. All MacMedics iPod & iPhone repairs are performed only in our Millersville, MD office. Of course, if you’re a MacMedics client or just someone that wants to ensure that your iPhone is being handled by a reputable Mac service firm, we are happy to accept iPhones that are mailed into our repair center. If you’d like us to e-mail you a FedEx label, just get in touch, and we’ll send one right over. We are going to be shooting for same day turn around for all iPhone glass repairs. You can drop your iPhone off in the morning, and we will likely have it done later that same day.

Apple iPhone 3G with cracked/shattered glass (digitizer)

Don’t forget that MacMedics also fixes all other types of iPods (including) the 4th gen Nano. We also specialize in difficult Macintosh repairs, like LCD replacements, hard drive upgrades (to 500 GB), liquid spill rescues, Mac & iPod data recovery, and logic board repairs at very competitive prices. All MacMedics hardware repairs are backed by our “no-hassle” 1-year MacMedics warranty. The Apple Store and most other service providers only offer a 90-day warranty.

As always, no appointments are necessary for all iPods, iPhone, and Macintosh repairs. Just walk in to speak to any of our expert Mac techs.

A number of MacMedics clients have asked if the Apple warranty or AppleCare will cover a broken iPhone screen. Sadly, no the Apple warranty is null and void if you drop the phone and break the digitizer or LCD. Same holds true for iPhones that have water damage. There are detectors inside the phone at both the top and the bottom that will indicate when water has been present.

There are also a number of 3G iPhone “glass” parts for sale on eBay and the Internet. They usually sell for about $20 or so. This part IS the glass for the front of the iPhone. The only problem is that there is no practical way to separate the working digitizer from the broken iPhone glass. The part we use is the glass with the digitizer already attached. This is really the best way to do this repair. Also, as a side note, all iPhones are very difficult to open without causing damage and the iPhone’s cables, screws, and parts inside the iPhone are TINY. We’ve already seen a number of phones that people have tried to fix on their own with unhappy results. Even if you can find the right part, that’s not counterfeit, or has flaws in the glass, you’re only going to save about $40 by doing the repair yourself. Bring it to us and let us take care of it for you. Don’t take my word for it, read this posting from Jay Garmon from TechRepublic. He did his own repair, and said he’d not do it again.

There’s a flurry of people all over the Internet offering iPhone and iPod repair services. We hear about them all the time, and we often have to “re-fix” items that have ALREADY been repaired once. We only use the parts we’d use for ourselves in our own repairs. We also are not afraid to spend an extra few dollars to get a iPod battery that’s actually pretty decent. Many of our iPod repairs include a free battery and all include free ground return shipping. Don’t get the run around from a guy that has to do his REAL job first, then work on your iPhone at night to make extra money. This IS what we do, and we love it! We’re also a REAL Mac repair shop, so come visit our Apple Certified technicians and we’ll help you figure out the best way to to get your Mac. iPhone, or iPod fixed for you.

Here's what the shop floor at MacMedics looks like.

About MacMedics:

Since 1989, MacMedics has offered its clients award-winning Apple sales, support and consulting to business, education and residential customers. The company offers a broad range of services including desktop computer set-up, maintenance and administration, system and network administration, consulting and technology planning, Internet service and hardware set-up and troubleshooting, onsite and in-store training, emergency response and preventative maintenance. MacMedics provides Apple Authorized sales and service to over 8500 clients from their three offices in Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia.

MacMedics is the oldest and largest Apple Authorized Value Added Reseller and Apple Authorized Service Provider in the Mid-Maryland area. Our headquarters in Millersville, MD is home to our award-winning Mac service center.

MacMedics’ Millersville, Maryland Apple Service Center is 5 minutes south of Baltimore-Washington International airport (BWI) and 1/10 of a mile from I-97. We are only 10 miles from Ft. Meade/NSA and just 1 mile from Severna Park and about 5 miles from Arnold.

Coming from the Apple Store in Annapolis, MD? http://tinyurl.com/cgzt4a

Coming from the Apple Store in Towson, MD? http://tinyurl.com/cbevvm

Coming from the Apple Store in Columbia, MD? http://tinyurl.com/cbftyl

Here’s an iPhone that we fixed recently. The damage is pretty bad, so look away:

After we replaced the glass and the LCD you can’t tell that this iPhone ever had a problem.

Apple introduced a redesigned 3rd generation iPod shuffle. The new shuffle is being billed as the world’s smallest music player at nearly half of the size of the previous model. It is also the first music player that talks to you via Apple’s new revolutionary VoiceOver feature which enables the iPod shuffle to speak your song titles, artists and playlist names. The 3rd generation iPod shuffle is smaller than a AA battery, holds up to 1,000 songs and is easier to use with all of the controls conveniently located on the headphone cord (similar to the iPhone). With the press of the remote, you can play, pause, adjust volume, switch playlists and hear the name of the song and artist. iPod shuffle features a new aluminum design (available in silver or black) with a built-in stainless steel clip that makes it truly ultra-wearable. iPod shuffle features up to 10 hours of battery life.

4/27/09 Update: We’ve decided to hold this special open for a short time longer in response to the massive number of iPod repairs it has generated. FYI: We’ll also fix an iPod Classic LCD for the same price minus the free battery. Thank you to our our loyal customers who have sent us multiple iPods and Macs to work on. To thank those folks and encourage more “double” iPod repairs we’ll offer a 15% discount off your second lower priced repair. With iPods sales down across the board, iPod repairs are way up! Thanks for keeping ipodmedics.com and MacMedics in mind. MacMedics is now fixing iPhone 3G broken screens for $109.99. The Apple Store charges $199.

A broken LCD screen or audio only coming out of one ear bud in an iPod Video is never a happy thing, thankfully MacMedics & ipodmedics.com is running a New Year’s anti-procrastinator repair special on replacing the LCD screen/display or your iPod’s headphone jack in the iPod Video. We’ll fix either of these common issues and also install a new factory battery at no charge. (We’ll only fix one problem or the other for this special price. If you happen to have both issues, our price is only $70.95)

Apple would love for you to buy a new iPod or iPhone, but with the economy and the financial crisis looming, repairing an iPod or iPhone you already own makes more sense then ever!

We’ll install a new iPod Video LCD screen OR an iPod Video headphone jack in your iPod Video and also outfit it with a new Apple factory battery for $55.95 (our normal price is $99). We’ll repair your unit the same day it arrives, and ship it back to you the same day in most cases.

We’ll make this super easy for our loyal readers.

1. Use the Google Checkout link below to buy our iPod Video LCD & battery replacement service with 2-way shipping.
2. We’ll send you a FedEx shipping label via e-mail.
3. Pack up your broken iPod and place the pre-paid label on the box,
4. Drop in any FedEx box, drop it off at FedEx Office, or hand it off to any FedEx Express driver.

We’ll repair your unit and ship it back to you via FedEx. That’s it!

This special offer cannot be combined with any other offers.

MacMedics is now also offering Apple iPhone 3G service and repair. Got a cracked screen?? Don’t pay Apple $199 to get it fixed! Come see us and we’ll do it same day for $109.99. Best of all, NO LINES here at MacMedics.

If you’re a loyal Apple hardware buyer, you most likely know about AppleCare. Chances are you’re like me and after plunking down $2000 on a new MacBook Pro, maybe you held off on also buying AppleCare. What you might not know is that you can buy AppleCare anytime within the first year of ownership and get an extra two years of Apple warranty coverage. AppleCare also entitles you to free phone support from Apple for more than just the first 90 days of ownership.

AppleCare is also available for iPods. You can double the Apple factory warranty to two years by enrolling. Considering that AppleCare is $59 for all of the more expensive iPods, it’s a good bet. Any iPod repair needed within 2 years will make your $59 investment totally worthwhile.

We commonly see MacMedics customers (and other folks from all over) who bought their Mac elsewhere, and either opted to buy AppleCare at a later date or were never informed it was an option at the time of purchase. So as long as you’ve not hit your 1-year purchase anniversary yet, you can can still enroll your computer in AppleCare. You could rush to the Apple Store or buy on-line and fuss with getting retroactively enrolled after your paperwork comes in the mail, or you can call MacMedics (or e-mail us) for the same price as Apple, we’ll enroll your Mac in AppleCare instantly and e-mail you the paperwork that contains your AppleCare number. Once you go past the 1-year warranty, there is no way to retroactively buy AppleCare. If you never registered your computer, or did so late, it’s possible that Apple has the wrong info on when you actually bought your computer. If you can prove your computer was purchased less than one year ago, you can still buy AppleCare. Apple’s serial number information uses the Mac’s “Born on date” to give pretty good guess on the Mac’s warranty. It’s very likely that your purchase date could be as mcsh as a month after this date if your Mac was in the channel for a long time, or sat on the shelf for a while before you bought it. Check your paperwork to be sure, and do so quickly before you give up on buying the extended warranty.

I recommend AppleCare for all Apple computers, Especially laptops, where the service parts are more expensive and you also have a power adaptor that can fail. If you have ANY hardware repair performed under the AppleCare warranty it’s totally worth the investment. We have it on all of our computers here at MacMedics, and it’s been worthwhile for us.

Pay on-line right here, and we’ll e-mail you to get your computer’s serial number as soon as your order reaches us. Use the coupon code “AppleCare” on Google Checkout and we’ll take $10 off your AppleCare purchase over $149.

If you’re right at the deadline to buy, please also call us at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS if you don’t hear from us via e-mail within a few minutes of your order. We’re also happy to handle your enrollment via a phone call, if you’d rather not buy on-line. Just give us a call and we’ll take care of it right on the spot.

Don’t forget that MacMedics can also honor your AppleCare warranty or your Apple factory 1-year warranty. We can offer some distinct advantages versus visiting the Apple Store.

1. No appointment is needed when you bring your computer in. Just drop it off anytime.
2. Both of our walk-in service locations (MacMedics in Lanham, MD & MacMedics in Millersville, MD) are less then 10 steps from your parking spot. This means no lugging your iMac, G5 or Mac Pro through the mall, in fact if you’ve got something that’s a bit heavy or awkward, just come get us and we’ll carry it in for you!
3. MacMedics is fast! We try to have any needed warranty parts on order the same day you check in. We also have many commonly used service parts in stock (like laptop power ports, top cases, keyboards, Superdrives, power adaptors, and all types of hard drives and memory).
4. We’re absolutely fanatical about ensuring your unit is correctly repaired and properly reassembled. See our blog post regarding service obtained elsewhere.
5. Not located near an Apple Authorized Service Provider? You can ship us your unit yourself, or get in touch with us on details on how we can pick it up from you.

1/18/09 UPDATE: We’d like to thank the hundreds of of people who have taken action based on this blog post. MacMedics recommends AppleCare for all Macs, and our new web page and instant enrollment has been super successful. If you’re still on the sidelines wondering when you should buy AppleCare, take action now! Macs are super reliable, but you never know what could happen. With logic boards and many other major parts costing hundreds of dollars, AppleCare could cover it all for you. Use it one time, and you’ve made your investment back. See our post about an $800 logic board repair. As we mentioned above, MacMedics buys AppleCare for all of our loaner, rental, and support equipment. With a laptop where you have an external power supply, you are very likely to have to replace your adaptor within three years. If you end up doing so, that’s $80 back on your investment. Wanna’ talk about AppleCare and why we recommend it more? Just give us call at 1-866-MAC-MEDICS we can enroll your Mac(s) on the spot. Again, don’t wait until your 1-year factory warranty runs out!

It’s hard to always know what damages an iPod Video or iPhone LCD screen. We’re constantly amazed at the patterns that are created as LCD gets destroyed. Since most of the iPods we work on are mailed in to us, we often don’t get the story behind a damaged iPod. We’ll ask our clients that drop off iPods for service in our shop in Millersville, and frequently they have no idea what happened. Spontaneous LCD combustion? Too hot in the car, too rough in the backpack, shot with an imaginary bullet? LCD screens in the pattern of a devil.

This one is our latest. Is is flower? an entrance to a worm hole, or just an excellent example of fractal patterns on a broken LCD? Check it out for yourself!

See large size picture here.

Get your iPod Video LCD repaired for $89 including a new LCD, labor, a free replacement battery, and return shipping via FedEx. Use this coupon “10-off-repair” when paying via Google checkout.

Just send your iPod to us using this form and we’ll get it fixed up for you.

Apple has released iTunes 8.0.1

iTunes 8.0.1 improves stability and performance and provides a number of important bug fixes, including:

• Seamlessly plays the current song when creating a new Genius playlist.
• Improves syncing spoken menus to iPod nano.
• Addresses an issue of deleting HD TV episodes when downloading.
• Improves checking for updates from the App Store
• Improves accessibility with VoiceOver.
• Addresses problems syncing Genius results to iPod.

We’ve commented on the Internet based myth regarding the iPod “click of death” several times before. According to Internet lore, you can “whack” your iPod on the edge of a table or desk in order to fix a clicking hard drive problem. We’ve always felt that this was a bad idea, and could result in further damage to the very iPod you were trying to help. Details on this rumor have been few and far between, but we’re happy to say that we’ve finally seen what can happen when you whack your iPod hard on a table.

See the following pictures:

Click of death iPod gets whacked

As you can see the iPod’s hard drive platter has shattered. We were wondering what was up with this iPod, as it failed the shake test when it came into the shop. The iPod’s owner revealed that he had read about “whack-a-mole” iPod fix on-line and wailed away on it.

Why do people think that banging their iPod on a table works? We think it has to do with a loose hard drive cable, dead battery, and maybe a corrupt hard drive. When the iPod is banged around the hard drive cable may get enough movement to re-seat it. Also, based on our very unscientific iPod study, it appears that this seems to be based mostly in the 4th Generation and Photo iPods. Based on the same informal poll it also appears that more clients with Windows formatted iPods find themselves in this situation than Macintosh formatted iPods. If you think you’ve got the click of death with your iPod, send it in to us at ipodmedics.com, and we’ll figure out if it really does or not. It’s free for us to check, and the repair (if it DOES NOT need a new hard drive) is very inexpensive. Also if your unit has a major problem, and you don’t want to invest in a repair, we’ll likely buy your sick iPod from you as well.

A steady stream of broken iPods arrive each day at ipodmedics.com. They come in, we fix them, and then send them back to their owners. It’s always nice to get a note back thanking us for just doing our job:

“At first I was a little skeptical about your service. I read the claims, but I was not totally convinced. Was this was the answer I long sought after to repair my beloved iPod? I thought to myself, “Well, what have I got to lose?” I mean, my iPod was already broken. I could only improve from my current situation, so I decided to give it a shot. I shipped my iPod to iPodMedics via USPS first class mail. Within a day it was confirmed that it had indeed arrived at your shop. Soon after, I received the Google Checkout payment request which I quickly paid on-line. It was so easy. DHL delivered it back to me in the next few days. To think that I wasted all that time on the web trying to find anyone who could help me out after Apple refused to even touch it. This was really the best answer to my problem and I am very satisfied with the results. I no longer have a cracked LCD screen. If I need any more service on my iPod then I will return to iPodMedics. Thank You for your help, and I give my best wishes to the company.”

Sincerely,
Thomas S.

Now more than ever it makes good sense to repair your broken iPod rather then replace it. Here at MacMedics and ipodmedics.com we’ve seen a pretty steady stream of folks looking to have their iPods repaired. The iPod is designed to be pretty much a disposable piece of electronics, as Apple has very few decent repair options available. With a newer, larger capacity, sexier models out pretty frequently Apple makes a pretty convincing argument to just buy a new iPod when your iPod starts to give you trouble. I shudder to think how many iPod users give up on a perfectly good iPod, just because it has a very minor problem or just needs a new battery.

Many, many iPods I see have simple issues like hard drive corruption or a bad battery. There are easy and cheap to fix. Even iPods with a serious problem like a dead logic board or hard drive are still worth fixing, as they can be repaired in most cases for less than half the cost of a new iPod. All of our iPod repairs carry a full one year warranty.

With gas prices, and doom and gloom with the stock market, everyone seems to be on money saving kick right now. Consider that it only costs about $2 (via USPS) to ship your iPod to us for a free estimate, it’s a worthwhile investment to find out for sure where your iPod’s situation really is. Since we don’t sell new iPods, we’ve got a pretty good incentive to repair your iPod, while Apple is more interested in seeing you replace it.

So if you’re in what appears to be a repair situation, let us take a look it might be something simple. If it’s not and you don’t want to invest more money into your older iPod, we’ll give you cash on the spot for it.

Send your iPod in for free check out, and if you have an older iPod sitting around, that you have no plans to repair, send that as well and we’ll use it’s cash value to reduce your repair bill. Okay, okay I know some of you already fell in love with a new iPod and have an old one in your kitchen junk drawer (right next to your dead cell phone). We’ll give you cash for your broken or damaged iPod. We buy all models in any condition and we pay top price.