Louis's M1 video

[Piggie]

What's comical is you're attacking anyone's post here who doesn't trust Louis Rossman with a 10 foot pole because of how he makes his living trashing Apple yet you don't have a single Apple MacBook in that plethora of tech products listed in your signature. Doesn't surprise me one bit...
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I'm not attacking anyone, I'm simply saying I'm glad 3rd party repair shops exist so that the general public have a choice, and a second opinion if Apple seem unable to offer an affordable repair.
No more than that. Loui's was just an example of one of them.

That list is rather out of date now
You can add an Lenovo Laptop and Asus Chromebook to the list amongst other things.
The reason I don't own an expensive Laptop? Simply I have no need for one.
Sadly my Laptop and chromebook I just mentioned just sit there for months on end not being used.
I much prefer a Desktop machine at home, and I have a desktop machine at work, and my travel between those places is in a car, so can't use a laptop there

 

[8CoreWhore]

All legitimate and accurate complaints. Don't shoot the messenger. We'd have better Macs if we stop making excuses.

 

[ouimetnick]

One of Louis's videos got the attention of a YouTuber I've been watching for years. Dave Jones (EEVblog) is an actual electrical engineer, and it was nice to get his take on the display connector layout. The short version is that Dave doesn't necessarily blame Apple for the design, but notes a few things. Apple could have redesigned the connector after reports of failure, but Apple also might not care. Apple could have added water ingress protection to certain parts of the logic board if they chose (even though the computer isn't water resistant).

Remember the iPhone 6s & 6S Plus was not rated or advertised as being water resistant but Apple did make it more water resistant than previous models by adding a screen gasket and gaskets around connectors on the logic board. In other words Apple could and should improve the design especially since high humidity can cause corrosion on the display connector, but it's not a design fault either, just sloppy engineering that should be corrected. I know some Apple fans here love to bash Louis, but he's much smarter than all of us when it comes to repairing these machines. He's not going to work on your Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, Chromebook, etc because they change designs every year.

 

[JMacHack]

I certainly know what you are talking about. I own a food processor that was originally designed in the 1940-ties and sold since then with only minor modifications. That thing is as robust and reliable as it gets and if it every breaks down I am definitely going to repair it. Same goes for my tower speakers. But again, a computer is not a tractor. Your truck seems to have real value (inherent repairability, reliability, possibly rarity), and an old tractor can be a superior tool under circumstances... but we are talking about laptops here. An old car can have it's important parts completely rebuilt and be better than new. You can't do this with a laptop, unless you put new components into the old chassis. It's just a different kind of wear and tear, as well as different kind of utility depreciation...

Mostly sentimental value for both, but that aside shouldn’t those be a case for greater repairabiliy in laptops and computers in general? The truck is a Chevy, so it has wide interchangeability with GM vehicles to this day (I can even bolt a brand new chevy engine from 2021, to a transmission from 1955 should I wish!)

While current electronics are not very repairable by comparison, shouldn’t we be pushing for them to be made more modular in the first place? I’m sure it would take a lot of pressure to change an entire industry, but that’s aside the argument.

 

[dmccloud]

That's a very harsh world you suggest we live in.
A bit like saying people in poor countries should not have children, and if they can't plan correctly should not get assistance.
Glad I don't like in a world such as you suggest

People who offer others help should be thanked, and appreciated, be that fixing a macbook cheaply or giving a starving person a free meal.
Saying "well you should have planned better" whilst it may be factually true, is not thankfully the world we live in.

If I am taking a Mac in for repair, I'm going to make sure that the repair shop is Apple Certified. I don't care that someone like Louis may be able to perform the job cheaper, especially when it involves aftermarket parts that may not even be a good fit for Apple's specifications. Taking a Mac to someone like Louis is like taking your BMW to Joe's Repair Shack, where you know he's going to use whatever parts he has on hand to fix the problem rather than replacing the parts with something that has identical specifications. Sure it's going to be cheaper up front, but there's no guarantee that the repair will work beyond (maybe) 30 days. You can go to an aftermarket "tech" like Louis, but if the replacement parts are garbage, you will find yourself needing to shell out another $300 at a minimum to fix the problem when it happens again. OTOH, if I take the Mac to an Apple Certified repair shop, I can be assured that identical parts that are fully compliant with Apple's specifications are being used. It may cost more up front, but not having two costly and time-consuming repairs is the preferable option to me.

 

[ouimetnick]

If I am taking a Mac in for repair, I'm going to make sure that the repair shop is Apple Certified. I don't care that someone like Louis may be able to perform the job cheaper, especially when it involves aftermarket parts that may not even be a good fit for Apple's specifications. Taking a Mac to someone like Louis is like taking your BMW to Joe's Repair Shack, where you know he's going to use whatever parts he has on hand to fix the problem rather than replacing the parts with something that has identical specifications. Sure it's going to be cheaper up front, but there's no guarantee that the repair will work beyond (maybe) 30 days. You can go to an aftermarket "tech" like Louis, but if the replacement parts are garbage, you will find yourself needing to shell out another $300 at a minimum to fix the problem when it happens again. OTOH, if I take the Mac to an Apple Certified repair shop, I can be assured that identical parts that are fully compliant with Apple's specifications are being used. It may cost more up front, but not having two costly and time-consuming repairs is the preferable option to me.

You seem to struggle with understanding what kind of “repairs” and apple authorized service center can do. They can’t repair anything. If you are an Apple authorized “repair” center, you can only replace logic boards, not repair logic boards. No reasonable person is going to bring a 4 year old $1200 MBP for a $500 logic board replacement at an Apple authorized repair center.

Apple’s “parts” are completed assemblies like logic boards, top cases with glued in batteries, and the display assembly. That’s pretty much it these days.

Your BMW analogy is pretty terrible actually. It’s like bringing a 5 year old BMW in for a new engine (they would replace the engine with a remanufactured engine) rather than bringing the car to a shop that specializes in European cars and knows how to rebuild engines. You better prepare to have your wallet raped by going to a BMW dealership? Most folks I know bring their car to the dealership only during the warranty period, after that they see a mechanic familiar with the brand. I’m not bringing an 18 year old Mercedes to a Mercedes dealership nor would I bring a 6 year old Mazda to a Mazda dealership for repairs.
I bring the Benz to a European Mercedes/BMW/VW specialist and the Mazda to a rotary specialist.

A surface mount capacitor, diode, resistor or IC is not a special Tim Cook approved part. Some ICs are indeed proprietary, but some are regular off the shelf components. Louis knows how to troubleshoot and knows how the circuit works from the schematic, you don’t.

Would you rather spend $500 for a refurbished logic board with other potiential problems like corrosion or pay $250 for a skilled technician to diagnose and replace the component(s) on your otherwise good logic board on an out of warranty computer? Louis Rodman, Jessa Jones, etc are specialists that know what they’re doing, not a “Joe’s Repair Shack”

 

[Mac... nificent]

Apple’s “parts” are completed assemblies like logic boards, top cases with glued in batteries, and the display assembly. That’s pretty much it these days.

That is it for any computer manufacture these days. Some manufactures are worst than others, and Apple is by far not the worst to deal with.

No reasonable person is going to bring a 4 year old $1200 MBP for a $500 logic board replacement at an Apple authorized repair center.

No but many people buy used computers on the cheap and then use the parts from it as replacement parts. In the long run this will same someone a lot of money over the likes of what "Louis" charges. People can also go to places like IFixIt.com and buy new parts for around the same as what "Louis" charges to replace a few 10 cent resistors. "Louis" makes his money on labor, not parts.

 

[BrianBaughn]

If things pan out the way they do in sci-fi/post-acopalypse movies Louis will be an important member of the resistance. They always have one of those guys.

 

[ouimetnick]

That is it for any computer manufacture these days. Some manufactures are worst than others, and Apple is by far not the worst to deal with.


No but many people buy used computers on the cheap and then use the parts from it as replacement parts. In the long run this will same someone a lot of money over the likes of what "Louis" charges. People can also go to places like IFixIt.com and buy new parts for around the same as what "Louis" charges to replace a few 10 cent resistors. "Louis" makes his money on labor, not parts.

I'm aware. I repair electronics as a hobby and for occasionally for friends. I know Apple isn't any different than Dell, HP, Acer, Lenovo, etc, I was just pointing out to dmccloud that an apple authorized repair center doesn't know **** when it comes to actually repairing components. I also have various donor Macs to keep other Macs running. As I mentioned, previously, I replaced a trackpad and battery for a customer using parts from a donor machine. I've also written several guides on iFixit

 

[Mac... nificent]

I was just pointing out to dmccloud that an apple authorized repair center doesn't know **** when it comes to actually repairing components.

Most repair shops these days don't "know ****" when it comes to repairing electronics. That's a lost art form. These days you get "certified" in other areas. When you run a diagnoses on something you run a "procedure" instead of using a VTVM. Even car and TV repair these days has now become modular. When an electronic part on your car breaks do you think they check for bad resistors and caps? No, they look up the procedure for that error and it says "Does this work? Yes/no. If yes then go to step 2B. If no then go to 5B" etc. etc. So this isn't a Apple issue. One of the best things about Raspberry Pi is that it's teaching people about how electronics actually work.

 

[ArPe]

If things pan out the way they do in sci-fi/post-acopalypse movies Louis will be an important member of the resistance. They always have one of those guys.

You mean he will have to fight Mungo in the Thunderdome death cage and end up being food for Mungo’s pet wolf?

 

[CJM]

I remember watching his stuff before he got big and enjoyed it.. Then I thought he went off the rails a bit, probably when Apple legal went after him during the Right to Repair debacle.

This video though, was quite good. Can't disagree with him - it's dumb that the SSD is soldered when it is being written to like crazy due to Apple cheaping out on RAM.

Like.. they create their own problems which are seemingly so easily fixed which a little conscientious thought.

 

[dmccloud]

You seem to struggle with understanding what kind of “repairs” and apple authorized service center can do. They can’t repair anything. If you are an Apple authorized “repair” center, you can only replace logic boards, not repair logic boards. No reasonable person is going to bring a 4 year old $1200 MBP for a $500 logic board replacement at an Apple authorized repair center.

Apple’s “parts” are completed assemblies like logic boards, top cases with glued in batteries, and the display assembly. That’s pretty much it these days.

Your BMW analogy is pretty terrible actually. It’s like bringing a 5 year old BMW in for a new engine (they would replace the engine with a remanufactured engine) rather than bringing the car to a shop that specializes in European cars and knows how to rebuild engines. You better prepare to have your wallet raped by going to a BMW dealership? Most folks I know bring their car to the dealership only during the warranty period, after that they see a mechanic familiar with the brand. I’m not bringing an 18 year old Mercedes to a Mercedes dealership nor would I bring a 6 year old Mazda to a Mazda dealership for repairs.
I bring the Benz to a European Mercedes/BMW/VW specialist and the Mazda to a rotary specialist.

A surface mount capacitor, diode, resistor or IC is not a special Tim Cook approved part. Some ICs are indeed proprietary, but some are regular off the shelf components. Louis knows how to troubleshoot and knows how the circuit works from the schematic, you don’t.

Would you rather spend $500 for a refurbished logic board with other potiential problems like corrosion or pay $250 for a skilled technician to diagnose and replace the component(s) on your otherwise good logic board on an out of warranty computer? Louis Rodman, Jessa Jones, etc are specialists that know what they’re doing, not a “Joe’s Repair Shack”

Rossman is a snake oil salesman who uses substandard parts to repair Apple machines while bashing them left and right because he refuses to either go through the Apple certification process or use OEM parts. That is also exactly why the BMW analogy is accurate in this case. You could replace BMW with Chevy or Ford and my point still stands. Sorry, but Rossman is not as great a repair tech as you and your fellow Rossman apologists would claim. You also supported my own point when you said "after that they see a mechanic familiar with the brand" - because that wouldn't be "Joe's Repair Shack," if people are going for the cheapest possible repair, it would be someone with little to no training or familiarity with specific brands, just a general overview. Louis is also an outright a**hole, which goes a long way towards me not wanting to give him any business or views. Also, how would Louis know "how the circuit works from the schematic" when he doesn't have access to the schematics? You give him far too much credit for some things, then completely overlook other aspects of the situation as a whole.

Rossman has talent when it comes to electronics repair, there's no doubting that. However, his attitude towards Apple products (and his overall demeanor) and his use of off-brand replacement components raises a lot of questions from a warranty and workability perspective.

 

[Mac... nificent]

Rossman is a snake oil salesman who uses substandard parts to repair Apple machines while bashing them left and right because he refuses to either go through the Apple certification process or use OEM parts.

Well stated ?

Also, good point about the schematics

He may know some things about electronics (any 12-year-old could learn about electronics) but I highly doubt he would be able to pass the Apple certification process.

 

[Maconplasma]

Rossman is a snake oil salesman who uses substandard parts to repair Apple machines while bashing them left and right because he refuses to either go through the Apple certification process or use OEM parts. That is also exactly why the BMW analogy is accurate in this case. You could replace BMW with Chevy or Ford and my point still stands. Sorry, but Rossman is not as great a repair tech as you and your fellow Rossman apologists would claim. You also supported my own point when you said "after that they see a mechanic familiar with the brand" - because that wouldn't be "Joe's Repair Shack," if people are going for the cheapest possible repair, it would be someone with little to no training or familiarity with specific brands, just a general overview. Louis is also an outright a**hole, which goes a long way towards me not wanting to give him any business or views. Also, how would Louis know "how the circuit works from the schematic" when he doesn't have access to the schematics? You give him far too much credit for some things, then completely overlook other aspects of the situation as a whole.

Rossman has talent when it comes to electronics repair, there's no doubting that. However, his attitude towards Apple products (and his overall demeanor) and his use of off-brand replacement components raises a lot of questions from a warranty and workability perspective.

Agreed 100% Exactly what I've been saying about him but he seems to have sent his defenders here to do damage control.

 

[Hoo Doo Dude]

Agreed 100% Exactly what I've been saying about him but he seems to have sent his defenders here to do damage control.

Yep, I'm in total agreement.

 

[ouimetnick]

Rossman is a snake oil salesman who uses substandard parts to repair Apple machines while bashing them left and right because he refuses to either go through the Apple certification process or use OEM parts. That is also exactly why the BMW analogy is accurate in this case. You could replace BMW with Chevy or Ford and my point still stands. Sorry, but Rossman is not as great a repair tech as you and your fellow Rossman apologists would claim. You also supported my own point when you said "after that they see a mechanic familiar with the brand" - because that wouldn't be "Joe's Repair Shack," if people are going for the cheapest possible repair, it would be someone with little to no training or familiarity with specific brands, just a general overview. Louis is also an outright a**hole, which goes a long way towards me not wanting to give him any business or views. Also, how would Louis know "how the circuit works from the schematic" when he doesn't have access to the schematics? You give him far too much credit for some things, then completely overlook other aspects of the situation as a whole.

Rossman has talent when it comes to electronics repair, there's no doubting that. However, his attitude towards Apple products (and his overall demeanor) and his use of off-brand replacement components raises a lot of questions from a warranty and workability perspective.

What snake oil is he selling? I’m not sure you know what that term means. What are the substandard parts he is using. How would him becoming an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) allow him access to an genuine capacitor, diode or transistor? It seems you’ve never actually been an ACMT at any time in your life. ?

Again, you struggle to grasp what an authorized service center can do. I worked for one for several years. I had access to GSX for the service manuals and training. I passed both the hardware test and software test (both $299) and took seperate “qualification” exams to be able to work on the then new retina machines and MBA at that time. Apple does not release board level schematics to their technicians. Apple will not sell me a capacitor or an IC for a logic board. They will not sell an authorized service center a backlight driver. I remember that the logic board for my 2010 MBP 13 C2D was $799?? No amount of Apple training material for their technicians teaches you how to read a schematic, how to use a DMM, how to solder board level components.

What do you mean by genuine parts in this case? There isn’t a genuine Apple
approved capacitor or Apple manufactured backlight driver, those are off the shelf components that you or I can buy from DigiKey, Mouser, etc. Some components are custom made for Apple and are proprietary so you have to salvage them from a donor machine since Apple will NOT SELL those components or any board level components for that matter.

As far as schematics go, you must be new at this, one can learn how to read a schematic and know how a circuit works based off the schematic. I’m not good with complex schematics/circuits so when I run into problems I post the schematic in question on a related technical forum and people much smarter than I are able to explain it to me. Thanks to various YouTube videos, reading, etc I can tell you how a basic speaker crossover works or how a power supply (dual rail or not) works. For the schematics I have for my audio gear, it tells you what the voltage should be at certain points (emmiter leg of a transistor, certain leg of a resistor, diode, etc) in relation to ground. The schematics that Jessa Jones, Rossman, and others have does the same thing. You have to figure out why a voltage is low or missing by reading the schematic and checking components upstream

You must not have watched a Jessa Jones or Rossman video because they DO have schematics for those machines. Usually they leak from China (Foxconn)

The car analogy you made up was terrible, and like I said I’d bring what ever car to a person that specializes in those makes/models. Likewise I’d bring my 7 year old out of warranty MacBook Pro to someone that specializes in Apple products (Jessa Jones, Rossman, others)

 

[ouimetnick]

Well stated ?

Also, good point about the schematics

He may know some things about electronics (any 12-year-old could learn about electronics) but I highly doubt he would be able to pass the Apple certification process.

Did you pass the Apple certification process? It’s a bit challenging, but when I took it, it was open book. Nothing more than flow charts for diagnosing problems, and using KGB (known good boards) to verify that the suspect module was in fact bad. Nothing in there about schematics or basic electronics.. well how to use a multimeter to measure continuity for the backlight fuse on Mac portables.

 

[dmccloud]

What snake oil is he selling? I’m not sure you know what that term means. What are the substandard parts he is using. How would him becoming an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT) allow him access to an genuine capacitor, diode or transistor? It seems you’ve never actually been an ACMT at any time in your life. ?

Again, you struggle to grasp what an authorized service center can do. I worked for one for several years. I had access to GSX for the service manuals and training. I passed both the hardware test and software test (both $299) and took seperate “qualification” exams to be able to work on the then new retina machines and MBA at that time. Apple does not release board level schematics to their technicians. Apple will not sell me a capacitor or an IC for a logic board. They will not sell an authorized service center a backlight driver. I remember that the logic board for my 2010 MBP 13 C2D was $799?? No amount of Apple training material for their technicians teaches you how to read a schematic, how to use a DMM, how to solder board level components.

What do you mean by genuine parts in this case? There isn’t a genuine Apple
approved capacitor or Apple manufactured backlight driver, those are off the shelf components that you or I can buy from DigiKey, Mouser, etc. Some components are custom made for Apple and are proprietary so you have to salvage them from a donor machine since Apple will NOT SELL those components or any board level components for that matter.

As far as schematics go, you must be new at this, one can learn how to read a schematic and know how a circuit works based off the schematic. I’m not good with complex schematics/circuits so when I run into problems I post the schematic in question on a related technical forum and people much smarter than I are able to explain it to me. Thanks to various YouTube videos, reading, etc I can tell you how a basic speaker crossover works or how a power supply (dual rail or not) works. For the schematics I have for my audio gear, it tells you what the voltage should be at certain points (emmiter leg of a transistor, certain leg of a resistor, diode, etc) in relation to ground. The schematics that Jessa Jones, Rossman, and others have does the same thing. You have to figure out why a voltage is low or missing by reading the schematic and checking components upstream

You must not have watched a Jessa Jones or Rossman video because they DO have schematics for those machines. Usually they leak from China (Foxconn)

The car analogy you made up was terrible, and like I said I’d bring what ever car to a person that specializes in those makes/models. Likewise I’d bring my 7 year old out of warranty MacBook Pro to someone that specializes in Apple products (Jessa Jones, Rossman, others)

Again, you completely misconstrue what I've said, then take elements of what I actually said and change your own advocacy to suport your contentions. I never said Joe's Repair Shack specialized in ANYTHING, which makes you statement about taking a car to someone who specializes in certain brands completely irrelevant to my point, especially since I already said I'd take a car to someone familiar with the brand who would use the correct parts rather than just bolting whatever they had lying around the shop. But thanks for admitting that people such as Rossman are using leaked schematics (which may not even be 100% accurate) instead of authorized resources.

Instead of assuming what I have and have not done in my life, you should actually just admit that Rossman places agenda over everything else. Defending his actions is not justification, it is nothing more than enabling an self-entitled egotist with his own agenda to push.

 

[Mac... nificent]

You must not have watched a Jessa Jones or Rossman video because they DO have schematics for those machines. Usually they leak from China (Foxconn)

Doesn't sound like something an ethical person would do.

 

[ouimetnick]

Again, you completely misconstrue what I've said, then take elements of what I actually said and change your own advocacy to suport your contentions. I never said Joe's Repair Shack specialized in ANYTHING, which makes you statement about taking a car to someone who specializes in certain brands completely irrelevant to my point, especially since I already said I'd take a car to someone familiar with the brand who would use the correct parts rather than just bolting whatever they had lying around the shop. But thanks for admitting that people such as Rossman are using leaked schematics (which may not even be 100% accurate) instead of authorized resources.

Instead of assuming what I have and have not done in my life, you should actually just admit that Rossman places agenda over everything else. Defending his actions is not justification, it is nothing more than enabling an self-entitled egotist with his own agenda to push.

Again, you still haven't answered the questions I had about your previous statements.

Rossman is a snake oil salesman who uses substandard parts to repair Apple machines while bashing them left and right because he refuses to either go through the Apple certification process or use OEM parts.

What snake oil does he sell? What do you mean by genuine parts in this case? There isn’t a genuine Apple
approved capacitor or Apple manufactured backlight driver, those are off the shelf components that you or I can buy from DigiKey, Mouser, etc. Are you just going to spew incorrect information and not clarify?

What authorized resources could I use to repair my board? Where do I get a authorized schematic? Even schematics direct from the manufacture can contain errors. I found a mistake in a schematic this week at work. I've found errors in schematics from other manufactures as well. For the record since your lack of knowledge in this field is showing, manufactures generally don't give customers schematics and service manuals (some exceptions). They give it to technicians. I get most of my schematics for various Sony, Yamaha, Denon, etc from Elektrotanya or HiFi Manuals. They aren't "leaked" its just a genuine PDF being re-uploaded. Manufactures don't seem to be bothered by it since those sites have been up for over 15 years now. I have on several occasions been able to get some manufactures to send me schematics and service diagrams for products no longer in production. Boston Acoustics, Fishman, and Fender have all emailed me a copy of the schematics and service manuals when I've asked.

Rossman's agenda is pretty obvious. He's in the repair BUSINESS. Anything that makes it easier for his business to succeed is something he is going to like. That's not exclusive to him, that applies to any small business owner. iFixit has the same mentality. The other side of the coin is that access to repair documents, BOM, schematics, etc makes it easier for any competent person to work on their OWN electronic devices. Electronic manufactures are against it because it gives customers a cheaper route to get service and get their devices working and thus the manufacture may lose money. That's Apple's agenda.

If you want to always have Apple do the "repair" for you, then no one is stopping you. Several of my family members with Apple shares would rather you do exactly that. Just realize that sometimes the replacement board may be sketchy as the QC from China does vary when doing board rework.

I like being able to work on my own equipment. I take it that you don't know how to..

 

[Hoo Doo Dude]

As a former partner in a retail computer store I was in charge of running the service department. We'd have gone broke trying to do business the way Rossman does. I suppose it is fine if you're a small operation and have a sort of clique clientele. But our customers were higher ed and corporations and there is no way to make money doing this the way Rossman does. It would have cost our customers a fortune and been unreliable to boot. Yeah, it takes a certain level of skill and expertise to swap out thing down to the individual component level. But it's not efficient and it is not economical. Relying upon bootleg schematics is a no go. Also, working that way results in lots of redo work, a sure fire money loser. Yeah, he'll have his fans and some will be glad to believe they've saved money. But it doesn't scale well and is unreliable. Fast turnaround, reliable work, guaranteed repairs, reasonable prices ... that's the way to run a professional repair operation. I can get service anywhere via Apple authorized repair centers and they're likely to be there if I ever need additional work. There's nothing to be gained by going to a "boutique" one off shop.

 

[jdb8167]

As a former partner in a retail computer store I was in charge of running the service department. We'd have gone broke trying to do business the way Rossman does. I suppose it is fine if you're a small operation and have a sort of clique clientele. But our customers were higher ed and corporations and there is no way to make money doing this the way Rossman does. It would have cost our customers a fortune and been unreliable to boot. Yeah, it takes a certain level of skill and expertise to swap out thing down to the individual component level. But it's not efficient and it is not economical. Relying upon bootleg schematics is a no go. Also, working that way results in lots of redo work, a sure fire money loser. Yeah, he'll have his fans and some will be glad to believe they've saved money. But it doesn't scale well and is unreliable. Fast turnaround, reliable work, guaranteed repairs, reasonable prices ... that's the way to run a professional repair operation. I can get service anywhere via Apple authorized repair centers and they're likely to be there if I ever need additional work. There's nothing to be gained by going to a "boutique" one off shop.

I can see situations where having someone with the skill to do component level repair could be useful. There was a video I saw a few weeks ago with a technician (not Rossman) doing a board level repair because the owner of the M1 MacBook wanted to recover data on the SSD that wasn't backed up. That seems totally legit to me. Without a board level component repair (which the technician was successful with), the data can't be recovered.

That kind of one-off repair isn't something that corporations needing normal repair and service would be looking for but I can see a corporation looking for boutique repair in unusual situations.

 

[Hoo Doo Dude]

A single example exception can counter anything. I guess having a boutique repair service could be useful to people who don't know a lot and/or don't do basic security conscious things like backup their systems. But now that M1 user has an out of warranty MacBook so it may not turn out to have been a wise move if there are further problems with the system.

 

[jdb8167]

A single example exception can counter anything. I guess having a boutique repair service could be useful to people who don't know a lot and/or don't do basic security conscious things like backup their systems. But now that M1 user has an out of warranty MacBook so it may not turn out to have been a wise move if there are further problems with the system.

I got the impression that the data was pretty valuable. I certainly wouldn't want to use the MacBook for anything other than offloading the data after watching the repair video. Something fried the motherboard and the repairs seemed to be just enough to get the computer to boot. Long term, I can't imagine that the MacBook would be reliable.

Even the best backup strategies can fail. Sometimes things just don't go as planned.