Sending your MacBook or MacBook Pro off to one of the “Nationwide” Mac repair shops, might sound like a good idea.

Here’s a couple of things to consider.

Are their techs Apple Certified with many years of Mac hardware experience?

Are they advertising the “lowest price” on the Internet? If they are, they maybe going for the quantity vs. the quality business model. Since 1989 MacMedics has worked extremely hard to provide excellent workmanship, efficient service, and an accurate Macintosh service diagnosis.

Because of our promise of quality and workmanship, we’ll also reinstall all screws in their correct locations, and ensure that the Apple Macintosh case tolerances are as close to the original factory fit as humanly possible. (This holds true for Macintosh, iPhone, and iPhone repairs.)

Today, a Black MacBook came in for repair. It had previously been sent to a “mail-in” Internet Mac repair business. When we took the unit apart we were appalled to see that the unit had been improperly serviced elsewhere before.

In this MacBook’s case we were able to see five items right away that tipped us off.

1. Unabated liquid damage on top case near battery
2. Damaged temperature sensor cable for optical drive
3. Missing optical drive screw
4. Misplaced screw in optical drive (a large size screw forced into incorrect location)
5. Two missing top case screws.

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In this case the screw securing the optical drive was too large for the screw hole it was in. It was causing a pressure spot on the bottom case to burp out.

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Ripped temperature sensor for the optical drive. The temperature sensor is suppose to be attached to a cable and is meant to be in this plastic carriage.

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While this liquid damage is in a spot that might not cause an issue, it’s always a good idea to completely clean this corrosion out of a computer as it can break off and move to other parts of the computer.

The saddest part of this story is that the Black MacBook was coming into to MacMedics for “backlight” or “inverter” issues. This was due to the fact that the replacement LCD that had been installed elsewhere had failed and was no longer under warranty. This is another item to carefully consider. MacMedics offers a full one-year warranty on all of our Macintosh repairs. While other Internet based mac repair places come and go, MacMedics has been in business since 1989, so if your unit has issues in the future, we’ll be here to help (and to honor our warranty). Also, as Apple Authorized Service Providers, our shop floor has been inspected by Apple and exceeds their requirements for anti-static measures.

MacMedics is pleased to now offer MacBook Unibody and MacBook Pro Unibody broken glass/lens and LCD replacement service for our clients. If you’re located in the Baltimore-Washington area, there’s really no faster way to have your broken glass or LCD repaired. No shipping your unit away to who knows where, and no putting your unit into the hands of someone you don’t know or don’t trust. MacMedics has been in business for 20 years, and we revolutionized On-Site Macintosh Service in the Mid-Atlantic area. Let us provide our award-winning Mac Service to you.

If your MacBook Unibody or MacBook Pro Unibody LCD and/or glass/lens is broken, MacMedics can fix that for all sizes of the MacBook Pro Unibody family (also the original MacBook Unibody). Get in touch with us to make arrangements, drop it off in our Lanham or Millersville office, or just mail it into us in Millersville using this form. If you have questions just e-mail us, or call 1-866-MAC-MEDICS

Most repairs are completed within 24 hours, and all sizes of MacBook/MacBook Pro Unibody LCDs and glass are in stock.

MacMedics is also pleased to offer iBook, PowerBook, MacBook, and MacBook Air LCD replacement service in about a day. In cases of older units, MacMedics may also be able to offer you a used LCD panel to save you even more money. All MacMedics LCD and glass replacement service is covered by our full one-year “no-hassle” MacMedics Service Warranty!

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.

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.

Nobody likes to see a broken Macintosh laptop LCD, especially us. We love Macs, so we don’t like to see them hurt and broken after a bad drop or other unfortunate incident. Replacing the MacBook LCD can be an expensive repair when you seek help from Apple. They treat the entire LCD and top case of a MacBook as one part, and it’s expensive! MacMedics offers a flat-rate discounted LCD replacement service for the Black and White MacBook screens for $349. We’ll replace your broken or non-working) MacBook LCD with an OEM part, and return it to you as quickly as possible. If your MacBook has case issues or other problems associated with the broken LCD we’ll work with you to find the best solution for fixing those issues as well. Best of all if our replacement LCD screen has a problem it’s covered by our MacMedics full one-year warranty. (Fine print: we won’t replace the LCD if it’s been broken a 2nd time, so let’s be careful out there!)

Lots of companies are now jumping on the Mac service band wagon. When you have a major Mac service service need like an LCD or logic board, please consider that MacMedics is the regional leader for Apple Macintosh sales and service. We pioneered on-site Macintosh service, and our in-lab service is also highly regarded and award winning. Macintosh computers are highly engineered and as such they often have very small parts, various sized screws, and very tight fittings cases. All three of these things frequently trip up firms that are NOT specialized in Mac service. (see our blog post about how a big box store fried a perfectly working iBook) We frequently see computers after they have already been someplace else and NOT properly serviced. MacMedics is an Apple Authorized Service Provider and we’ve been fixing only Macs for over 20 years. So, before you ship your beloved laptop (or desktop) to places unknown, consider sending it to MacMedics. Also, all non-warranty Apple repairs are covered by our no hassle 1-year MacMedics warranty. If it fails, we fix it free.

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Ship your unit into us, or drop it off and for a limited time we’ll send it back to you via Fedex standard air shipping free of charge.

Add a 500 GB hard drive to any MacBook or MacBook Pro LCD replacement service for just $159 in a MacBook including a bit by bit clone data copy. When you get your unit back, your data will be in just the same place you left it. Also, your old drive is yours, so we’ll return that as part of the service, or we can make it into a portable back up drive for $40.

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.

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.