hoakley August 14, 2023 Macs, Technology

How to prepare your Mac for service or repair

We all hope that it will never happen, but even Macs sometimes break. This article explains what you should do – when possible – before your Mac goes for service or repair, so that when it returns you can get up and running as quickly as you can.

Preparation

When your Mac is going in for service or repair, be prepared for it to return with its internal storage wiped or replaced with new. Even if the repair shouldn’t result in logic board replacement, that might prove necessary, and in most modern Macs that brings with it a replacement SSD. If your Mac has a severe fault, you may be unable to do everything recommended here. But if you can, it’s worth taking precautions before you take or send your Mac off as they will make life so much easier when it comes back.

Technicians also require two additional steps to make their job possible: turn off its Find My Mac service, and, if it’s an Intel Mac with a firmware password, you should turn that off as well, so they can start your Mac up. If you’re shipping your Mac to Apple or an authorised service facility, you may also be given additional instructions to prepare your Mac for service.

The best sequence to follow is:

When you’re ready, close all applications ready to shut your Mac down.
Make one last full Time Machine backup, using the Back Up Now command in Time Machine’s menubar entry, or use your favourite backup utility to make a complete backup to an external drive. If you don’t normally back up the whole of your Mac’s internal Data volume, make sure that this time you do, together with any other user containers or volumes you might have created on its internal storage.
If it’s an Apple silicon or Intel T2 Mac, and you haven’t already turned FileVault on, do so now. Because of the way that FileVault works, this won’t require the disk’s contents to be re-encrypted, and it provides instant security for all the files stored on its internal Data volume. For other situations, see below.
Turn off Find My Mac in System Settings (or System Preferences), in the iCloud section of Apple ID.
If it’s an Intel Mac with its firmware password enabled, restart it into Recovery mode, use Startup Security Utility or Firmware Password Utility to disable that firmware password, then restart your Mac to confirm that it no longer requires the firmware password to be entered.
Shut your Mac down using the Apple menu command, if you can.

Pack your Mac carefully using its original packaging, if possible, and take or send it to Apple or Apple’s Authorised Service Provider. I generally avoid sending any cables, input devices, or anything else when the work is to be done on the Mac itself, but if you’re taking it in to an Apple store you’ll need to take at least its cables with you. If you’re taking it in, remember to bring its original sales receipt as well.

Securing the data on some Macs may require a little more than FileVault. If it’s an Intel Mac without a T2 chip, then turning FileVault on could require a long encryption process. It may be simplest then to start it up in Recovery and erase its Data volume. For Macs containing particularly sensitive data, you may consider FileVault insufficient; you might then want to delete the most sensitive items, or use Erase All Contents and Settings to wipe all the data from a T2 or Apple silicon Mac. The more that you remove now, though, the more you’ll have to restore when you get it back.

Return

When your Mac returns, connect it to a minimum of essential peripherals and try starting it up normally. If it goes straight into the macOS setup sequence, start it into Recovery Mode and open Disk Utility. If almost everything on your boot volume has vanished, you know that its internal storage has been wiped or replaced.

If your Mac has a T2 chip and you want to use an external bootable drive to restore its contents, now is the time to open Startup Security Utility and enable it to boot from an external drive.

If you need to restore your Mac’s internal storage, you now have a choice of routes for that journey, including:

If your Mac boots into setting up macOS, you can follow the setup, and opt to migrate from an external copy or backup.
You can set macOS up as a new user, and migrate using Migration Assistant afterwards, or migrate manually if you really prefer.

Whichever you choose, you’ll want to ensure that your backup or copy is connected by the fastest method, such as Thunderbolt 3, to make the process as rapid as possible.

If you do allow a T2 Mac to boot from an external disk, don’t forget to restart in Recovery Mode, open Startup Security Utility, and return its settings to normal, once you’re happy that your migration is complete and your Mac boots properly from its internal storage.

Checklist

Make a full backup or copy.
Turn FileVault on (T2/Apple silicon), if not already enabled.
Turn off Find My Mac.
Disable any firmware password (Intel only).
Shut down.
If taking it in, take power cables and original sales receipt.
Follow additional instructions if sending it instead.

Reference

Apple’s instructions.

8Comments

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1

EcleX on August 14, 2023 at 7:06 am

Thanks for the interesting article. The problem arises when you cannot do it because the Mac does not boot for some reason. Then you should ship the Mac for inspection/repair with all inside and nothing changed, because it is impossible to boot. For instance, if the GPU is broken (that happened to me with an iMac 27-inch Retina 5K display, mid 2017; iMac18,3). In the old days, you could easily open the Mac and remove the disk (or whatever), and even replace it.

But now you cannot do it, you need special tools, or is much more difficult and even dangerous and prone to break things for some Mac models (including opening the iMac with suction cups), unless you or someone is prepared to do this amazing thing (BTW, saving 8 times in the SSD cost!):

UPGRADING an M1 Mac mini SSD from 256gb to 2TB!!
[link removed]

M1 Mac Mini Soldered SSD Upgrade
[link removed]

Taking into account that Apple does not buy one but millions of SSD, the cost difference is not just 8 times, but much, much, much more.

I guess that is what we have if we want to use the fantastic macOS interface instead of the awkward Windows or even more for Linux. Do not get me wrong. I love the Mac as said, but Apple could do things better.

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 2
  
  hoakley on August 14, 2023 at 7:44 am
  
  I apologise, but your comment contained promotional links for two commercial videos on YouTube. This blog is non-commercial: if you wish to advertise commercial products that are entirely unrelated to posts here, then you will have to do that elsewhere. I have removed those links.
  
  Now, to your comment. I’m confused here, as you seem to be writing about self-repair and not the subject of this article. Even there, what you have written doesn’t make sense to me. You refer to a Mac with a failed GPU, but then write about replacing its disk. As I’m sure you’re aware, replacing the disk in a Mac with a failed GPU isn’t going to help in the slightest.
  
  You then make the claim that it’s possible for users to upgrade their own Macs with soldered-in SSDs, on the basis of very challenging technical demonstrations that void all AppleCare and warranties. You might be happy to perform such feats, but for someone who has spent thousands of dollars on an Apple silicon Mac and AppleCare, and probably never wielded a soldering iron in their life, that seems to me to be totally insane, and something that no one should ever recommend.
  
  You then turn to a completely unrelated topic, Apple’s pricing of SSDs, which we have discussed on many occasions in the past. I’m not prepared to allow any further discussion of that here, as it’s irrelevant to this article. However your claim that you could save eight times Apple’s cost of the SSD is patently false, even if you were skilled and lucky enough to replace the internal SSD.
  
  If there’s one useful message here it’s that Apple does now support self-repair in some countries. If your Mac isn’t covered by AppleCare or a warranty and you can diagnose the hardware that needs to be replaced, then Apple will support you to do that for many recent models. Before you consider whether that’s a realistic option, though, you should take a careful read through the procedures required to perform that repair. Unless you are experienced in the servicing of computer hardware, you are extremely unlikely to want to attempt self-repair even with all the support that Apple provides.
  
  Howard.
  
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3

EcleX on August 14, 2023 at 11:54 am

Thanks and sorry about that. I did not want to promote anything. My purpose was just to illustrate with two Youtube videos that sometimes it is not possible to remove components like RAM or SSD in modern Macs or replace it by others in case that for instance you want to señf-repair or send it for repair, even other component, like the GPU.

For instance, in the example that I experienced, I could not remove the SSD or replace it by other one when I sent such iMac to repair. Eventually they had to change the full mother logic board. On the other hand, the SSD pricing is what they said in such videos.

I know all these facts and that doing such soldering repair is very difficult and prone to failure, even by experienced experts. I am not encouraging that in any way. As said, all that was to illustrate that some Macs do not allow to replace internal components, and that is not good. Indeed, there is now a new legislation in some sites like the European Union to prevent such programmed obsolescence and abuses in pricing, including not only that the user should be able to replace components, including batteries, for instance, usage of standard ports like USB instead or proprietary ones like Apple Lightning.

Finally, I know that having all closed and soldered may have some advantages, but also has advantages being able to repair and replace them by the user. In summary, we are destroying planet Earth with all waste that we generate (including the Macs that cannot be reset for new users due to Apple protections). I hope that Apple reaches a better equilibrium in all that. That would be good for all, including planet Earth. In essence, that was what I tried to illustrate. And sorry again if I did something wrong. This site is awesome and I thank you for all your fantastic work!

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 4
  
  hoakley on August 14, 2023 at 12:36 pm
  
  “I know all these facts”
  Hmm. I don’t think you do.
  Since 1987, with the introduction of the Macintosh II, Apple has used modular repair methods. What happens when your Mac has a logic board problem is that its logic board is exchanged. The word “exchange” is important here: the repair, whether you use Apple’s self-repair service or have it repaired for you, requires that the old logic board is returned to Apple.
  Apple then has that logic board surveyed to discover the failed component(s) and determine the feasibility of repair. In many cases, it’s worth replacing it, and that’s performed in a specialist facility, not the repair shop. When that repair has been performed, the logic board is tested thoroughly. If it’s fixed, then it goes back into inventory to go out in another exchange. If it still has problems and the survey indicates that the board is going to be expensive to repair, then it will go for recycling. AFAIK that’s what Apple has been doing since 1987.
  So, if you really did know all these facts, you’d realise that much of that comment was utterly incorrect, and thoroughly misleading. Before making claims, it’s worth finding out the facts. But I’ve never known those to stand in the way of a YouTube performance artist trying to make a fast buck.
  Howard.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
5

EcleX on August 14, 2023 at 5:34 pm

Thanks. Maybe I did not use the right words and examples, but the summary of what I tried to say is that having all soldered and proprietary has some advantages, but allowing user-replaceable components like RAM and SSD (besides batteries for devices with them) has also advantages. I personally prefer the second scenario, and recent laws in the European Union point to such direction. Among other things to protect not only the users, but also the environment.

BTW, I found the two Youtube links in an article posted two days ago, entitled “Upgrading an Apple Silicon Mac mini SSD is possible, but a slog”, where they say: “AppleInsider strongly advises not to go down such a risky route to upgrade a Mac mini”.

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 6
  
  hoakley on August 14, 2023 at 6:48 pm
  
  This has nothing whatsoever to do with this article. However, to correct your claims once again:
  Not all recent Macs have soldered-in storage or memory. I will deal with them in that order.
  T2 and Apple silicon Macs don’t actually have SSDs as such, as their chips are the controller (which would normally be built into the SSD itself). This is because they support hardware encryption, and use their NAND storage for the Secure Enclave. Two different models have removable storage: Mac Studio (M1 and M2), and Mac Pro (T2 and M2). Apple supplies replacement NAND modules for the Studio, I believe as part of its self-repair programme, and sells as retail products the NAND modules for Mac Pros. Because these are low-volume specialist items, they are considerably more expensive than the storage soldered into other current Mac models – you can check prices for Mac Pro storage online in Apple’s Store. So if using such user-replaceable components is that important to you, you can buy one of those. I should warn you that replacing NAND modules in a Mac Pro (or Studio) involves putting that Mac into DFU mode and performing a full restore, so it isn’t straightforward. But to benefit from hardware encryption and the Secure Enclave, it’s an excellent solution.
  Memory is different, as memory modules are not soldered into Apple silicon chips, but actually mounted in the chip carrier, to achieve the performance required for Unified Memory. However, T2 Mac Pros do have socketed memory, and while you’re checking on their NAND module prices you might like to see how much they cost. Again, they are far more expensive than the memory fitted into other comparable Macs. AFAIK no one has devised a way to make memory mounted in the chip carrier user-replaceable. So if you want Unified Memory and its benefits, there’s no other option.
  So would you be prepared to pay those extra costs? If not, then you still have a choice. If you think you can get better value from another computer, go ahead and buy it, and choose between Linux and Windows 11.
  I think that’s quite enough about this irrelevant topic now, thank you.
  Howard.
  
  LikeLiked by 1 person
7

EcleX on August 15, 2023 at 7:56 pm

Talking about DFU mode, this is interesting; just published elsewhere: “macOS Sonoma Simplifies Restoring a Mac in DFU Mode.

LikeLiked by 1 person
- 8
  
  hoakley on August 15, 2023 at 10:34 pm
  
  Thank you.
  I’m amazed that has appeared just now: Sonoma betas were able to do that from the first developer release in June. I see this because when Viable creates a VM, it uses an IPSW image file. In Sonoma, when it does that it ‘mounts’ the IPSW and the user is invited to use it with a second Mac in DFU mode. So I’ve been seeing that for over two months now.
  Although it might be nice to do this without Apple Configurator 2 (which is a free download from the App Store anyway), the rest of the procedure is just the same AFAIK. One of the great benefits of using Configurator is its detailed instructions for putting Macs into DFU mode and connecting them correctly. I’d be surprised if Apple adds those pages to the Finder’s Help book, which means that those who try running this in the Finder may learn the hard way.
  So does it simplify restoring a Mac? Very little indeed, although it does look quite natty. The hard bit for most users is getting the other Mac into DFU mode, and using the right cable. It doesn’t help with either of those.
  Howard.
  
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Preparation

Return

Checklist

Reference

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