Now offering screen repair for ALL MacBook Airs!

Years ago when the MacBook Air was drawn from a manilla envelope and rocked the industry, many repair techs were perplexed by it's complex simplicity. Mainly, I'm referring to its gratuitous use of double-sided tape in its construction.

This tape would make it difficult to cleanly remove some parts or to replace them and still look original. I'm referring to the aluminum bezel that is taped to the lid and frames the LCD. In removing this bezel, it could easily become misshapen and may not adhere as well as it did before. I made an effort to find a technique that would work best to save the bezel and am quite proud that my work is now completely flawless.

However, the first iteration of MacBook Air ended when the new (still more slim) models entered the scene in 2010. This new construction brought with it an interesting display unlike any most have encountered. Rather than installing a completely enclosed LCD/backlight assembly, the lid of the laptop acted as a frame and case for the assembly. While it's difficult to explain to some that have never opened their lid to remove the screen, the difference simply made it difficult to find a source for the LCD as a single piece.
For some time, the only solution to a broken MacBook Air LCD was to replace the entire lid! This is exponentially more costly and so impractical.

Now there are reliable outlets for the individual LCD panel  and I'm offering cracked screen replacement for all current MacBook Air models!

Email me to set up a repair or if you have any questions! I can't wait to help!

Mac Repair and Services

My iBook G4 won't Startup!

You press the power button on your iBook and it may click and whir, but no gong. Or it may gong, but nothing appears on the screen! It's either solid grey or solid black. Your iBook is facing it's inevitable shortcoming.

I've been repairing Apple computers for a decade now, and in all of that time I have never encountered the same issue as often as I have with the iBook G4. The numbers astound even myself and I've gone through so many iBook's that I can usually disassemble and reassemble the laptop within an hour.

What is this flaw that is substantially inherent? A few little balls, of course.

Knoweth Thine Enemy

This image depicts the solder balls that are used in ball-grid-array surface-mount methods, which were used to mount your iBook's Graphics Processor Unit (GPU) to the motherboard.

In BGA mounting, a simple bead of solder is used to create electrical connections, rather than using pins or wires. The only issue with this method is that the solder is solely responsible for both conducting electricity and providing mounting support for the component. This means that the stress of thermal expansion is placed on, you guessed it, the chip's miniscule balls.

The solder's melting temperature is never reached by the normal function of the laptop, rather the reoccurring expansion and contraction of the components heating and cooling creates stress. Because the older methods of BGA used hard components with no give, the solder cannot flex and eventually cracks, causing tears of frustration and hours of tech-support calls. But no longer!

Just fix it!

(trademark iDecker enterprises LLC.LMAO)

As aforementioned, I've repaired no less than several hundred iBook G4's with similar issues. If it can be fixed, I will fix it. But how is it done? There are many methods posted on the internet (some more or less orthodox than others) and I have developed my own, but I do not recommend that any person attempt to repair their own iBook G4's GPU!

I cannot stress this enough. I and any other right-minded tech will charge more to sort out a bag of screws and components and attempt to reassemble what's left of your repair attempts. Laptop repair is never as easy as it appears on eHow.

While I won't share how it's done, I'm proud to say I have never damaged a customer's laptop and that I've only been unsuccessful at two (yes, I keep count) iBook GPU repairs. If your iBook is having the issue described, then let me help. On a personal level, I enjoy seeing older Macs still in use and prefer to help keep these aging beauties from facing retirement in the landfill. In fact, I often write this blog on my collection of ancient macs such as the "clamshell" iBook and my 12" PowerBook!

Keep your Mac ticking and ask about my iBook G4 GPU reflow service!

I hope to help you soon!

-My faithful PowerBook