Proud to not be Apple certified

Quite the contrary. To be an Apple certified warranty repair center, to the point that your repairs are 100% officially covered under an Apple warranty, the service center must buy their parts from Apple.

Here is where the problem lies. Since one must purchase the part from Apple to be certified, Apple has bargaining power in setting the price of the parts they sell you. In order to even make a profit, a repair shop must set a very high price for any given service. I am sure some of you who have been to tekserve have heard "your machine is in warranty, so it will be $600", on a model I can fix for $170.

Apple does not manufacture any of these parts they resell to the repair shops. LG Philips, Chi Mei, AU Optronics, and Samsung do. Apple sells the part to a service center for 3-6 times its actual cost when purchased in quantity, which is the cause for the ridiculously high price quotes. Apple knows that customers prefer shops that are Apple authorized service centers, and use this to make money. Surprise surprise, they're a publicly traded company, but how does this help you? It doesn't.

But doesn't Apple rigorously test those parts to ensure quality?

No. Are you curious as to what "Apple Authorized" means? One might assume this makes it a better part. It's the same screen I purchase. As one can see from forums such as macrumors, Apple has no real high tech process to weed out displays with issues such as dead pixels, as a lot of people receive displays with them. I test my parts the old fashioned way. I plug them in and look at them before I bring them to you. The personal touch can't be beat.

What about worksmanship? Doesn't being certified by Apple mean my machine will be put back together properly?

One would think so! I serviced a machine recently for a customer who had the keyboard replaced by Apple. She paid hundreds of dollars, it had two screws missing, and the top case was permanently misaligned. She was told it would not be perfect cosmetically after being refurbished. This is typical!

A common example is with A1150, A1211, A1226, and A1260 model Macbook Pros. If you've had Apple work on your machine, remove the battery. Look at the two screws on the side facing the front, the trackpad button. These screws likely are not put in all the way. They're inserted at an angle, because the person putting them back in is using a screwdriver too long to allow him(or her) to insert them straight.

This is a small detail, but it proves a point, and shows a lack of broader experience on the part of most "certified" technicians working on these machines. Being Apple certified means someone's passed a test and can read a manual. It doesn't mean they have years of experience servicing gear in mission critical environments, where worksmanship counts. I do.

I learned how to service electronics the old fashioned way - an apprenticeship alongside other techs in a broadcast facility working on recording consoles and studio gear. Every second of downtime meant people paying $3K/day would be looking to hurt you. There were no classrooms or paper exams. You were shown how to do something, then people with 30 years of experience watched as you did it, and pointed out what you did wrong. There was good worksmanship, and bad worksmanship, and only good worksmanship allowed you to continue your employment!

So being an Apple authorized repair center doesn't have anything to do with quality parts, but rather with Apple profiting from the fact that consumers prefer authorized shops?

Yes.

What about other non-Apple repair facilities?

As I state in my compatibility section, there's tons of bad parts out there. Big shops that try to do it all do not have the time or money to weed through all the different parts suppliers in order to save you money. It's easier for them to

a) charge a high price and buy the part at retail, or

b) have a low price and buy generic junk.

I don't work like that. It requires time consuming cherry picking and research to consistently find good parts at good prices. Leave that work to me. Often good parts can be had at lower prices than knockoffs, but you have to know where to look.

Also, this website specializes in a few specific repairs. Places that do it all are not always going to have the part on hand. If they order one, and it is bad, you are either getting stuck with that or will have to wait a week until a good one comes in.

What about places that are Apple Authorized at a really low price?

If someone tells you they are Apple certified and give an amazing price, it doesn't mean they are Apple Authorized to do the repair they are actually doing. They could be apple authorized to operate a cash register behind the bar at an Apple store. They could be Apple Authorized to resell iPod headphones. Yet, it allows them to advertise they're Apple authorized.

So how will your repair effect my warranty?

Anyone who isn't a fully Apple authorized warranty repair facility is technically voiding your warranty.

However, in reality, if Apple can't tell the machine's been opened or repaired, then there's no problem. My meticulous worksmanship & ninja skills ensure they'll never know I was there. Will the next housecall repair person use a magnetized tray to ensure each screw is saved?

Lastly, why should I use you?

As stated above, I learned how to service electronics the old fashioned way - an apprenticeship at a top class facility. I do housecalls where you can see what I do every step of the way. When you call, you'll hear the person who's doing the job with the model information available, not a clueless, minimum wage receptionist. You can rest assured the part being put in your machine came from a reputable supplier. It's casual professionalism at its best.

Proud to not be Apple certified!