The process

How mail-in MacBook repair works, step by step

A repair by post is only comfortable when you know exactly what happens to your laptop at every stage. This page follows one machine from the first email to the moment the courier hands it back.

Stage 1 — The quote request

Everything starts with a message. You tell us the model, the year if you know it, the country you are shipping from, and what the machine is doing wrong. Good fault descriptions are short and physical: “shuts down at 30 percent, battery health says Service Recommended”, or “co-ffee ran across the keyboard two weeks ago and now it will not power on”. We match that to a service tier and reply with a starting estimate, the parts that are usually involved, and the address to ship to.

You do not need to be technical. If you are unsure whether the problem is the battery, the display or the board, say what you can see and hear. A fan that never spins, a screen with a bright band, a trackpad that clicks twice, a machine that heats an idle desktop — all of these are useful clues, and none of them oblige you to buy anything.

Stage 2 — Packing and dispatch

Once you accept the starting estimate, we send the packing instructions. The short version: keep the machine in a padded layer, keep that layer inside a rigid outer box, and leave no room for the laptop to slide. Batteries travel better at a partial charge, so we ask you not to fully discharge a machine that still holds power, and not to ship one that is visibly swollen without telling us first.

You ship to our facility with a tracked service and send us the tracking number. From that point the parcel is on a documented route and you can watch it move. The mail-in kit page covers labels, customs wording and insurance in full.

Stage 3 — Intake and diagnosis

When the parcel reaches 2140 Airport Rd, Suite 300, it is opened against a checklist. We record the work order number, the serial, the model, the accessories received, and the visible condition of the lid, base and screen. This is why a photograph before shipping is worth taking, and why we photograph on arrival too: both sides agree on the state of the machine.

Diagnosis then runs in a fixed order. We confirm the power path first, because a dead battery or a failing charger can imitate almost any other fault. Next comes the display and input test, then storage and thermal behaviour. Where a board-level fault is suspected we inspect for corrosion, burned components and rail shorts. The result is a firm estimate: what we found, what it costs, and what happens if you decline.

Stage 4 — Bench repair

Approved work is scheduled to a bench. Battery and display jobs are usually completed the same day the estimate is approved. Keyboard and trackpad work takes longer because the top case has to come apart in a controlled sequence. Liquid-damage and board-level jobs are the slowest, because cleaning, drying, reflow or component replacement each need their own verification pass before the machine is closed.

You get a message when the repair is finished, and another when the machine is packed for return. If a repair reveals a second fault that was invisible until the machine held power again, we pause and ask rather than quietly adding cost.

Stage 5 — Testing, return and warranty

Before it leaves, every machine goes through a charge cycle, a cold boot, a sustained-load heat check and an input sweep across the keyboard and trackpad. Only then is it packed with the same care we ask of you, and shipped back with tracking. The returned box includes a service summary listing the work performed and the start of your six-month limited warranty.

Timelines vary by lane and by repair type; the honest ranges are published on the turnaround and warranty page. If anything is unclear at any stage, reply to any message in the thread, or call +1 (302) 555-0117.