Supporting Mac Computers - On a Budget

[trevm999]

Now we all know Macs are expensive, so if you just starting up your business and aren't sure how many you will get in (but want to be prepared for when you do get one) you might not want to spend the money on a bench machine just yet. However, I do recommend you get one once you start working on Macs regularly. It just makes things so much easier. Here is how you can get by before getting a bench machine.

1. Order a Snow Leopard install Disk http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

Currently, Snow Leopard is the only OS you can buy from Apple without going through the App Store.

2. When you get a Mac booked in, connect a external hard drive to it (this HDD will be dedicated to your Mac repairs) and create two partitions on the hard drive. Next, boot the computer to your Snow Leopard disc (this will only work if the computer did not come with a version of Snow Leopard past 10.6.3 pre-installed from factory) Install 10.6 on one of the partitions of your external hard drive.

3. Boot to your 10.6 install, do all the software updates. Download 10.8 from the App store. Run the 10.8 installer and select the other partition on your external drive as the install location.

You want both 10.6 and 10.8 because some Macs won't boot to an OS later than 10.6 and new Macs can't run an OS older than what they shipped with.

4. Boot to your 10.8 install and do all of the software updates

You will want to try to keep this OS updated so the latest released macs will be able to boot to it.

5. Now you will want to install some software on both your 10.6 and 10.8 partitions. Here are some programs I recommend:

a. Disk Warrior – A must have for Macs, you can rebuild drive directories if it has become corrupt or if you want to speed up a Mac. It also help get a clone of a damaged drive mounting.

b. Carbon Copy Cloner – Good for cloning drives, will also clone the recovery partition

c. SMART Utility – Don't feel like pulling the hard drive on one of the new iMacs? Boot to your OS and check out the SMART data and run some HDD tests this way

d. Disk Utility – This is built right into OSX. It can also be handy for repairing drive directories.

Now when you get a Mac in that is not booting to OSX, you can boot to your external hard drive, check the SMART data and run some HDD tests, and try to repair the OS using Disk Warrior and Disk Utility if the HDD tests okay. If you need to do a reinstall, you can backup the drive using Carbon Copy Cloner. To do the reinstall, you can keep images of OSX and then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone them on to the internal hard drive, or you can install using your Snow Leopard disc or Internet Recovery if the Mac came with Lion or Mountain Lion.

If you need to pull the hard drive, I recommend you have a Linux bench machine to test it and clone it. Sometimes this method will not work because a bad hard drive can prevent you from booting to anything, or because the Mac is experiencing other hardware problems.

Personally, I have a Mac Pro bench machine, but I still have external hard drives I use all the time.

 

[JustInspired]

Great tips. I wish you had posted this about a year ago as it definitely would have been helpful.
Since that time I have repaired many Macs and bought myself a Mac Mini for the workshop.
+1 For Carbon Copy Cloner and Disk Warrior.

 

[ArtemusComputerTechnology]

This is great. I will set this up for use for my mac clients. Thanks for the tips. You are awesome.

 

[lcoughey]

I just did an EBay search for Mac Mini and you can get a used system for under $200. It might not be the latest and greatest, but it certainly will be a huge step up from no Mac system at all.

It should also be noted that a new Mac Mini is as low as $599 via the online Apple Store.

That being said, the previously mentioned setup is certainly a creative way of going about things and may prove to be adequate for what you want to do. Personally, I'd prefer to be running my own system that I know is working 100%.

 

[altrenda]

Just make sure that any Mac you buy has at least a Core 2 Duo processor. Anything older, including a Dual Core won't run anything newer than Snow Leopard 10.6.8.

 

[14049752]

I quit reading at

Now we all know Macs are expensive

A $1000 piece of equipment that will last several years, make your job easier, and help you bring in more money is NOT expensive at all. As others have said, you can get a Mac Mini for a lot less than that, too. We bought one a while ago for $250 off of craigslist.

In my opinion, you shouldn't be working on Macs without having some kind of mac on your bench...it just makes it SO much easier to work on customer machines, data, etc.

 

[anonymous Mac Tech]

I quit reading at

A $1000 piece of equipment that will last several years, make your job easier, and help you bring in more money is NOT expensive at all. As others have said, you can get a Mac Mini for a lot less than that, too. We bought one a while ago for $250 off of craigslist.

In my opinion, you shouldn't be working on Macs without having some kind of mac on your bench...it just makes it SO much easier to work on customer machines, data, etc.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Not to mention there is no better way of learning OSX and Macs then having a Mac as opposed to a hackintosh or fumbling your way through when you happen to have a customer bring their broken Mac in.

 

[Markverhyden]

Couldn't have said it better myself. Not to mention there is no better way of learning OSX and Macs then having a Mac as opposed to a hackintosh or fumbling your way through when you happen to have a customer bring their broken Mac in.

Yep. It's called an investment. I don't rush out and buy the latest of anything when it comes out. But when I do buy I don't waste my money on low end stuff or my time trying to save $100. When Apple came out with 10.6 that put me at end of life on my eMac and iBook. Did not bat an eyelash at spending close to $2900 for a MacMini server and Macbook Pro. I even ended up buying another MacMini server as a lab machine since I was worried about hosing my production server testing things.

My MBP is maxed at 8gb RAM and I have XP Pro and W7 Pro VM's for those times when I just have to do Windows.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

I just picked up a 2010 MB Pro with a bad DC jack for $185 cuz the customer wanted it gone.... $20 part and walla I have macbook pro to use or sell and buy a newer one.


Do it right or not at all is my outlook.

 

[compnet]

Ignore the fanboys, I think this is a great article.

Sorry not all of us want to run out and spend 3000 dollars to "properly" work on 5-7% of the market.. Especially when most of that 5% thinks the "geniuses" know best and take it to the apple store to get ripped off.

Also, I don't think a mac mini would be THAT much more useful for troubleshooting than having osx installed on a usb drive. Hell I don't have a crapple or osx installed on a usb drive but I've been able to correctly diagnose and fix any mac that has come in to the shop.

 

[SprinterTech-WI]

Ignore the fanboys, I think this is a great article.

Sorry not all of us want to run out and spend 3000 dollars to "properly" work on 5-7% of the market.. Especially when most of that 5% thinks the "geniuses" know best and take it to the apple store to get ripped off.

Also, I don't think a mac mini would be THAT much more useful for troubleshooting than having osx installed on a usb drive. Hell I don't have a crapple or osx installed on a usb drive but I've been able to correctly diagnose and fix any mac that has come in to the shop.

$3000??? where are you shopping!?!?

 

[14049752]

Ignore the fanboys, I think this is a great article.

There was nothing "fanboy" about my post. It's the simple truth. A Mac IS a very very good investment if you plan to be working on macs. There are several reasons why you'd have one. And nobody said you have to spend $3000 to do it "properly". I have no doubt that almost every tech on the forum has a Windows bench computer for various reasons...if you work on macs, wouldn't it stand to reason that you'd invest in Mac tools too?

 

[Markverhyden]

I just picked up a 2010 MB Pro with a bad DC jack for $185 cuz the customer wanted it gone.... $20 part and walla I have macbook pro to use or sell and buy a newer one.


Do it right or not at all is my outlook.

I'd have been all over that. It was a bummer having to pay retail this last time around. Previous to that the last time I paid retail was 1994. CompUSA may not have paid me much but I could get Apple stuff at 80% or more off. The eMac and iBook I retired in 2010 cost me, respectively, $75 and $125 and they were still under warranty when I bought them so I was able to get Apple Care.

 

[trevm999]

There was nothing "fanboy" about my post. It's the simple truth. A Mac IS a very very good investment if you plan to be working on macs. There are several reasons why you'd have one. And nobody said you have to spend $3000 to do it "properly". I have no doubt that almost every tech on the forum has a Windows bench computer for various reasons...if you work on macs, wouldn't it stand to reason that you'd invest in Mac tools too?

Very, true. Personally, I haven't solely relied on the method I outlined, I have had a couple Mac bench computers available to me. I wrote this thinking about the techs who maybe haven't planned to support Macs, but someday someone shows up with one and who is going to turn a customer down? This way you can be a bit more prepared and be able to manage while looking around for a good deal on a Mac, if you expect to be having more coming in. Also, if there is someone just starting out, I think it is way more important to have a Linux bench machine when you start out than a Mac one.

 

[Markverhyden]

Very, true. Personally, I haven't solely relied on the method I outlined, I have had a couple Mac bench computers available to me. I wrote this thinking about the techs who maybe haven't planned to support Macs, but someday someone shows up with one and who is going to turn a customer down? This way you can be a bit more prepared and be able to manage while looking around for a good deal on a Mac, if you expect to be having more coming in. Also, if there is someone just starting out, I think it is way more important to have a Linux bench machine when you start out than a Mac one.

Your post is very valid for those not versed in the Mac world. Personally I've always had external drives, including thumb drives, with Mac OS's installed. But I also have done that with Windows and Linux. Have even gone as far as installing them on the 4gb micro sd on my Sierra AT&T WWAN adapter so I could have a live internet connection that did not rely on the local ISP connection.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I'm totally ignorant of what really is needed to drive OSX well. I see several mac mini with Core Duo 2 CPUs on eBay right now. Around $300. Several are shipping with Mountain Lion. Can those units really run Mountain Lion well or is it going to be sluggish? I honestly don't know.

 

[Blue]

Also, if there is someone just starting out, I think it is way more important to have a Linux bench machine when you start out than a Mac one.

Agreed, and bonus points for going as far as using OpenBSD. Having a good understanding of UNIX helps tremendously when you've got to get your hands dirty in OS X, by using a terminal. However, Linux is similar enough that once you are familiar with it, most things will carry over to OS X and UNIX; just beware of syntactical differences.

If you have enough customers bringing in their Macs to justify it, I'd consider it a wise business decision to obtain a used one, and learn the details of repairing the hardware and OS X. There are many particulars worth knowing, and could save you a great deal of time.

 

[Markverhyden]

I'm totally ignorant of what really is needed to drive OSX well. I see several mac mini with Core Duo 2 CPUs on eBay right now. Around $300. Several are shipping with Mountain Lion. Can those units really run Mountain Lion well or is it going to be sluggish? I honestly don't know.

To honest with the prices of used Apple equipment being so high I do not look at that market. But, as mentioned, you want a Core 2 Duo as that is the minimum. As with any computer the more ram the better, need a minimum of 2gb but I usually recommend that users max out the ram if they are going to use VM's.

Beginning with 10.7 Apple changed the distribution method to the Internet via the App store but you could download the image and keep a copy for offline use. You could still buy a thumb drive. With 10.8 it was also a downloaded image. But the last time I did an upgrade I was not able to save the image, it auto installed. At any rate that is less of an issue these days. If you do a Internet restore it connects to Apple to make sure you have a legitimate platform. As far as App store purchases you only pay for it once. Then you can download it on any machine that you setup with you App store account.

The only catch is now Apple has that OS download install tied to your app store ID. I found this out after I rebuilt a MacPro server. When I got to the OS X Server install I did not have the EU's account so I just used my (I know they had already paid for the s/w) account. When their IT people called me up about some other stuff they mentioned that updates was giving them a different account error even when they had their account enabled. I told them to call Enterprise Support since I was busy all day and they got that taken care of.

 

[gunslinger]

Ignore the fanboys, I think this is a great article.

Sorry not all of us want to run out and spend 3000 dollars to "properly" work on 5-7% of the market.. Especially when most of that 5% thinks the "geniuses" know best and take it to the apple store to get ripped off.

Also, I don't think a mac mini would be THAT much more useful for troubleshooting than having osx installed on a usb drive. Hell I don't have a crapple or osx installed on a usb drive but I've been able to correctly diagnose and fix any mac that has come in to the shop.

To start with if you are paying $3000 for entry-level Mac you're getting ripped off by someone and it's not Apple. I can get a last gen Macbook for well under $700 and run the latest Mac OS and Windows. Second thing, the market is more like 11% and growing at an amazing rate. I get a few Mac customers per week these days. I guess if you don't need the money send them my way.

 

[compnet]

It depends who you ask.. net statistics have them around 7%, mac sites have them around 11-12.. Call it 10, I'm still not spending any considerable amount of money to get that market, especially because most people opt for longer apple care, since they spent so much money on a laptop. Even most of those that don't have apple care are so ingrained in the apple culture that they just take it to the "genius" bar.

Throw in the fact that anything pre-10.6 is considered obsolete by most mac users(5 year life span of 5-10% market share for what people want to repair) vs windows xp being over a decade old and still widely used....

The 3000 dollar remark was in reference to a poster who "didn't bat an eye" at spending that amount to support macs.

I can build a bench machine, custom fit to my needs for 2-300 dollars.. Add on sata cards, usb cards, on board sata/ide/usb, etc. Useful for anything from slaving to do virus removals to data recovery.. Hell, half my bench machines are left from customers and I spent 40-100 fixing them up for my needs.

In a few more years, if they actually get enough market share to make it worth it to write viruses for, and they start pouring in every shop, I'll think about getting a mac.. Until then, I'll get by the way we have been for years.

...

I get it, if you want to focus or specialize on mac repair, sure go ahead and buy a mac. If like 99% of repair shops you just deal with them when they come through the door even though you don't even advertise mac repairs, then this guide is pretty awesome.

PS, a mac mini or a macbook aren't bench machines. If we are creating artificial barriers to work on macs, I say you should all have 2 full mac pros.