Apple announces Self Service Repair

Cmaier

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I might do this for my older macs which need some work, if they extend the program to cover older stuff.
 

Cmaier

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Looks like the component prices will end up being pretty much what you would pay Apple to do the repairs. Would still be useful to a lot of people because you don’t have to be without your device, and you may be able to repair devices Apple no longer supports (if you buy the spare parts ahead of time, while Apple still supports the product, of course).
 

Andropov

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Interesting. I haven't read anywhere what is going to happen with repairs of parts that are checked by the SoC (like the FaceID/TouchID module, which gets disabled when you swap it for a new one, even if genuine). Will Apple offer the tooling to end users too? I see they cite iPhone display repairs explicitly, which does include the FaceID module...

EDIT: Ah, iOS 15.2 Beta now doesn't disable FaceID if the part is swapped. Nice.
 

Cmaier

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Interesting. I haven't read anywhere what is going to happen with repairs of parts that are checked by the SoC (like the FaceID/TouchID module, which gets disabled when you swap it for a new one, even if genuine). Will Apple offer the tooling to end users too? I see they cite iPhone display repairs explicitly, which does include the FaceID module...

EDIT: Ah, iOS 15.2 Beta now doesn't disable FaceID if the part is swapped. Nice.
Yes, they are going to provide some version of the “diagnostics software” that authorized service providers use. Also they will offer tools.
 

Andropov

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Remember when you could get disks with Apple Hardware Test and run a full set of diagnostics for your Mac? I believe that some models even had it built-in on the firmware, and was available on boot with a key combination. I wish we had that today.
 

Andropov

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I know, but it lost a lot of features when it became Apple Diagnostics, no? For example, as far as I can tell you can only see what failures were detected, but not what checks passed. I remember running AHT on a PowerMac G5 once and there was a lot more info about what was going on*.

*Not that it mattered in the end :ROFLMAO:. AHT found nothing, and I still have a G5 that makes every internal PSU I have put in as a replacement explode after a few days.
 

mr_roboto

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I don't actually know whether they removed features outside of detailed reporting... which is the insidious thing about removing detailed reporting. :)

I wonder if there's a special undocumented thing you can do to see more, like cmd-L while installing macOS to show the installer log as it's working.

Your G5 certainly has a problem there! I'm not too surprised AHT didn't find it, the scope of software like that is limited. I wonder if it's something like a weak short circuit - bad enough to draw so much current the PSU ends up failing, but enough ohms that it doesn't cause enough voltage droop to prevent the computer from working at all.
 

Andropov

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I don't actually know whether they removed features outside of detailed reporting... which is the insidious thing about removing detailed reporting. :)
I think you could run different tests for different things. I don't know if Apple Diagnostics just runs them all, but it's a single progressbar.

Your G5 certainly has a problem there! I'm not too surprised AHT didn't find it, the scope of software like that is limited. I wonder if it's something like a weak short circuit - bad enough to draw so much current the PSU ends up failing, but enough ohms that it doesn't cause enough voltage droop to prevent the computer from working at all.
I don't know what triggered it, as I only saw it die once with my own eyes, when entering sleep. But it failed three times in the same way. One of the components on the PSU's PCB exploded with a loud bang and a flash of light. It was quite spectacular, if nothing else.

I originally bought it non-working (sold for parts) and after some time trying to troubleshoot it I narrowed it down to the PSU. I disassembled it (which is a lengthy process on the G5's, the PSU can only be extracted after removing the CPU heatsinks and daughtercards) and found a broken component on the PCB by visual inspection. I remember that the name was unreadable (see pic) and took me a while until I found the name online (not many G5 PSU teardowns on the internet, iFixit wasn't around then). All I knew is that it was MOSFET-looking (but not a MOSFET, as someone on the internet pointed out at the time, it had too many legs for that).

After I found the name (TOP249Y, in case you're interested), I bought another one online. I still had no clue what it was, the datasheet/diagarm didn't mean much to me at the time (I was 15), but I soldered the new one right in. It was also my first time soldering anything, so I remember being quite excited when I got it to boot. I ran the AHT, to check that everything was working and expected, and set up the OS. About a week later it exploded again, so I assumed I had botched the soldering job and resigned to buying a whole new power supply. This is the only time I saw it explode with my own eyes, with the whole flash of light + loud bang + strong burnt smell.

The new PSU came, I disassembled it AGAIN, installed the new one, re-assembled, and got it up to speed again. This lasted the longest, a whole two weeks before it exploded again (I believe also while going into sleep mode), but I didn't got to see it. After that, I had disassembled it way too many times, and didn't want to keep breaking PSUs as it was clear that something else was going on (and the G5 PSUs were a limited resource, Apple had stopped making them long ago).

I still have it, but haven't looked into fixing it ever since.

Here's a pic from the time:
BM1DS2tCIAAtjEo.jpg
 

Alli

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It definitely reeks of hell freezing over. For those of us so inclined, it’s wonderful news. The majority of Apple owners will continue going to Apple for minor repairs.
 

Herdfan

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I might do this for my older macs which need some work, if they extend the program to cover older stuff.

Have fun.

My first iMac was a 2011 and the video card died while still in AC. So Apple replaced it. It died again out of AC, so I ordered one and tried to replace it myself. But I could not get the old one out. Ended up taking a pile of parts to a local Apple Servicing Dealer who put it all back together for me. The look on the guy's face was priceless when I carried it in like a platter with the screen tilted and parts half out of the case. Put they put it back together for me for under $100.

Next time it started getting wonky, I just got a new iMac.
 

NT1440

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Have fun.

My first iMac was a 2011 and the video card died while still in AC. So Apple replaced it. It died again out of AC, so I ordered one and tried to replace it myself. But I could not get the old one out. Ended up taking a pile of parts to a local Apple Servicing Dealer who put it all back together for me. The look on the guy's face was priceless when I carried it in like a platter with the screen tilted and parts half out of the case. Put they put it back together for me for under $100.

Next time it started getting wonky, I just got a new iMac.
They have gotten easier to work on (except the loss of the glass being held on magnetically which was fun to use giant suction cups on) since then.

The only real annoying part is using the pizza cutter tool to cut the adhesive and putting the new one on.
 

Cmaier

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They have gotten easier to work on (except the loss of the glass being held on magnetically which was fun to use giant suction cups on) since then.

The only real annoying part is using the pizza cutter tool to cut the adhesive and putting the new one on.
Last time i opened up a mac was 2013. Replaced a MBP battery and replaced a spinning hard drive with an SSD. I was a little nervous because of my giant klutzy hands, but it went fine. I think I wouldn’t bother fixing my own phone, though.
 

Herdfan

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Last time i opened up a mac was 2013. Replaced a MBP battery and replaced a spinning hard drive with an SSD. I was a little nervous because of my giant klutzy hands, but it went fine. I think I wouldn’t bother fixing my own phone, though.
Replaced the battery in one of mine. It was the one of the first models with the pentalobe screws and I ordered a kit from iFixit. I was able to do it, but probably wouldn't again.
 

jbailey

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Years ago I replaced the bottom case of a PowerBook with a genuine Apple part bought through Apple. So this is something old made new again.
 
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