MacMedics is Washington, DC & Baltimore’s Original, Independent Mac Shop Since 1989 and we just expanded by buying one of our former competitors, Apple Specialist, macUpgrades of Bethesda, Maryland. Like MacMedics, macUpgrades was also founded in 1989. You can read more about this purchase on our website at http://www.macmedics.com/macupgrades.

Our purchase of macUpgrades now makes MacMedics the oldest Macintosh service and consulting firm in Maryland. MacMedics are Apple Authorized Value Added Resellers and Apple Authorized Service Providers, as well as Certified Members of The Apple Consultants Network. MacMedics has been in business and fixing Macs all over Maryland since way, way before the Apple Store or anyone else. In fact, our headquarters in Millersville AND our location in Lanham are larger than most Apple Stores, and our Mac Service Lab has over 100 feet of bench space.

MacMedics was founded in the Annapolis, Maryland area in 1989 by Dana Stibolt during a time when Apple Service was kind of a side business for Apple Dealers. MacMedics began offering an alternative to the stuffy Apple Dealer mentality of the “Service Department”.

Two things:

1. All Apple service was carry-in only, and generally pretty slow. Plus, it was a burden to our clients to be without a computer for a week, so MacMedics came to you and performed your Macintosh service both quickly and inexpensively.

2. The Apple service warranty then AND now is only 90 days. Nobody else offers a full one year warranty on out of warranty Apple repairs. When you choose MacMedics over the Apple store and other Apple Service locations for your broken Macintosh, you get a 1-year warranty parts and labor on whatever repair you had performed.

MacMedics is the only Mac shop that offers a low-cost extended warranty that includes ALL parts AND labor (for replacing bad parts). For MacBooks, Mac minis, and iMacs, pay just $99 for our Walk In Service Plan and your entire Mac is covered for a year (MacBook Pros and Mac Pros are $149). Also, with WISP, you get two free check ups per year and three phone or remote support incidents. Plus, if your Mac needs service down the road, your repair will be moved to the top of our repair queue for FREE priority Mac service.

With our army of Apple Certified Technicians and Consultants, MacMedics serves the entire Mid-Atlantic region with the area’s largest fleet of Apple loaner/rental hardware. MacMedics also stocks an amazing array of Apple Service parts, new and used Macintosh computers, hard drives, computer memory modules, software, and a TON of other accessories and Apple related items. Plus, with our purchase of macUpgrades we now also have all of their retail inventory at Millersville and Lanham, as well as their own massive collection of Apple Service parts which when combined with our collection, might be the Mid-Atlantic’s largest and most complete Apple Service part inventory. Also, with our combined inventories and stockpile of junked Macintosh computers of all types, we have an enormous collection of obsolete and vintage parts that can be harvested and used to repair a Mac that is too old for the Apple Store to even check in for service.

It’s also important to note that MacMedics is a Maryland based and locally owned company. When you’re working to support locally owned businesses in your community and keeping the dollars in the local economy, don’t forget about MacMedics. There are other Mac companies operating in Maryland that are not based in this state (for instance, the Apple Store is not a locally owned company). It’s also important to note, that MacMedics has had only one owner in it’s history (Dana Stibolt), so unlike some firms, our roots are deep in both the Macintosh community and in Maryland.

If you need Macintosh assistance, help, training, Apple Authorized Service, Apple Authorized Sales, iPhone, iPod, or iPad repairs without the hassle of:

D. Trying to first get an appointment with an Apple Genius, and then not really getting enough time to really pick their brains for expert Macintosh advice.

It’s also important to know that the Apple Store does not perform data recovery. If you think your data is at risk, setting up your computer on the Genius Bar to copy your data, is generally not a good idea. As hard drives fail, they generate heat, and as they generate heat they fail more. We’ll remove the drive from your computer and put it right on our data recovery equipment to try and rescue your data. Our fee for this type of recovery is only $199, for any size, single hard drive. Read more here.

(Plus, as an added bonus ALL Macintosh laptop repairs are performed locally right here at MacMedics. The Apple Store will often send your laptop away for Apple Depot Service where it’s out of your control and their’s)

Our expert Apple Certified employees stand ready to help at anytime. As a two time “Best of Baltimore” designated Mac Repair Shop, we are super proud to be an award-winning Apple Authorized Service Provider and Authorized Apple Value Added Reseller. We’re a great alternative to either buying a new Mac or bringing a sick Mac computer to the Mall. We’re famous for our “Computer Store on the corner” personal service.

MacMedics is also a multiple repeat winner of Apple’s “Commitment To Excellence Award”. In fact, we’re the only Apple Authorized Service Provider In Anne Arundel or Prince Georges counties to win this award according to Apple. MacMedics IS the ONLY Apple Authorized Service Provider and the only independent Apple Authorized Reseller in all of Prince George’s county in Maryland.

The Commitment To Excellence Award recognizes MacMedics for several things, but most importantly for accuracy and speed of Macintosh repairs. There’s a reason that MacMedics is the most frequently referred service firm for tough Mac service cases, like LCD replacements, liquid damage, vintage or obsolete Mac equipment, and Macintosh data recovery. With well over 60,000 in-lab and on-site service cases and our staff’s combined Mac experience of over 200 years, MacMedics IS the place to bring your sick Mac!

Speaking of speed of Apple repairs, nobody is FASTER than MacMedics. In 90% of Apple Warranty or AppleCare repairs that come in for service, we have the repair complete and back in the customer’s hands in less than 24 hours. Not fast enough for you? We have a number of rental computers of all Apple models, so if you’re having a Macintosh Emergency, we have a way to keep things running for you.

We also perform Hard Drive Upgrades (under warranty or not) and expert Macintosh Data Recovery, two things you simply can’t get at ANY Apple Store. Plus, if you do need a new hard drive, we can upgrade the size, speed, and you get a 3-year warranty, compared to like-for-like hard drive swap at the Apple Store, plus there you only get a 90 day warranty.

Come visit either of our TWO fully-staffed and stocked Macintosh Service & Sales locations in Millersville, MD (near BWI Airport 1/10 of a mile from I-97) or in Lanham, MD (1 Mile from I-495/I-95 just inside the Beltway of off Rt 50 and Martin Luther King Hwy.)

Got a problem? Wanna’ talk about it? Just pick up the phone and call your nearest MacMedics office. It’s unlikely that you can get anyone at the Apple Store on the phone, and most other places just send you to voicemail. You will only get voicemail here if everysing phone line we have is tied up (and that does happen).

One other great thing about coming to visit us, is the fact that parking is here is not an issue, and it’s free and 10 easy steps right into our office. So, avoid the soul-sapping search for parking when you’re trying to find someplace to park in Bethesda, Hampden, Fells Point, or at the Mall.

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.

See this picture large size here.

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.

See this picture large size here.

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.

See this picture large size here.

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.