Like any complex system or machine, your laptop needs preventive maintenance (PM). Just like your car needs oil changes and tire rotations, your laptop needs new thermal paste and internal cleaning to keep it running at top performance for years. And just how your car has recalls that should be repaired or replaced MANY apple devices have design flaws that have a chance of destroying your machine but can be corrected with some work. This is one of the main reasons for software updates but who does hardware updates? I DO!

Here at PS Electronics I have 3 levels of preventive maintenance (PM). Outlined in this table and described in detail under the table. If you have any questions you can call or email and we can discuss which level is right for your machine.

Level 1. Basic Cleaning

  Just about every service we ever perform on your machine here will include a Level 1 PM. This service includes:

     Cleaning the outside of the case

     Cleaning the keyboard, Including compressed air to remove debris from under the keys

     Cleaning the screen with the proper cleaning fluid for coated optics

     Dusting out the ports, vents, and fans, including opening the machine and brushing out the fans and heatsink fins

Level 2. Logic Board Cleaning

  We start with everything from level 1 and add:

     I remove your logic board to clean and inspect under it

     The heat sink will be removed and the fins will be ultrasonic cleaned

     The thermal paste will be cleaned and replaced

     On certain models where the battery does not have to be removed to access the track pad, the track pad will be removed, the edges and under will be cleaned

Level 3. Recalls

  Lets face it, Apple as a company does not like to admit or correct problems even if they are a systematic flaw in their design. Just look at Flexgate. It's up to us as independent repair shops to offer the repairs to make their products more reliable. I call this level "Recalls", Apple's term is "extended service program". Recalls are fixes for what apple does not admit as a problem or ended their service program long ago.

Two examples of theses "Recalls":

1) The 2016 13" MacBook Pro A1708, two thunderbolt ports no touchbar, has an area on the board where a sensitive CPU data line is less then 1mm away from the 12 volt main power rail. On the edge of the board next to the vent. If even one drop of liquid falls on this spot the CPU burns up. It is a common known area of damage. I can cover the area with a sealant called conformal coating so that even if liquid falls there it may damage the machine but the CPU will survive giving the machine a chance to be repaired. (note: there are a number of things that once burnt out make the machine not fixable, the CPU is one of them. You can still replace the whole logic board in that case.)

2) The 15" and 16" A1990 and A2141 MacBook Pro from 2018 and 2019. These have a solid state drive that is built on to the board. The SSD chips run on 2.5 volts. The power supply chips that make this 2.5 volts are located on the very edge and corner of the logic board. The corner of the board is right next to the vent where all the cooling air enters the machine, along with any dust or dirt that is on the surface you place your laptop. Underneath this power chip the connections for the 2.5 volts and the 13 volt main power are right next to each other with nothing but one quarter 1/4 millimeter of air between them. Dust piles up on this corner, the dust absorbs moisture. The smallest amount of moisture on a fabric hair between these connections burns out the SSD. To fix it would cost more then a new logic board for the machine. More importantly, your data is gone. There is no way to recover anything that was on your laptop. Keep a Backup!

I can prevent this from happening by insulating the SSD power chips from dust or liquid with a conformal coating. First I thoroughly clean and dry the edges of your logic board then seal all the sanative areas.

These are two examples of machines that should have been recalled and fixed but Apple doesn't care, they will just sell you a new machine.

I can help prevent issues and keep older machines running for years to come!