How and where to get your Mac repaired when a fault occurs

If your Apple Mac develops a fault, what can you do and where do you go to get help? Surprisingly, the answer is on your Mac and everything you need is built in. Here’s a step-by-step guide.

Assuming your iMac Mac mini or iMac can still be started, you can follow this guide when it develops a fault. It does require at least a partially functioning Mac though. It might be a good idea to run through the steps here to repair your iMac or MacBook while it is working properly and note the repair centres at the end.

You could also use another Mac you own to work through this if you can’t start the faulty Mac.

1 Start here

Go to the Apple menu and select About This Mac.

2 Check the specifications

This window opens and it shows the version of macOS running and the hardware specifications like the processor, memory and graphics. This information is useful if you need to talk to a tech support person.

Did you know you can click the macOS version number to get the build number?

3 Service options

Select the Service tab and there are two options at the bottom. If your Mac is fairly new of if you have s AppleCare Protection Plan, click the link Check my service and support coverage.

If the Mac is out of warranty, which is the case for most Macs, click Show my service and repair options.

4 Support or repair

A Safari browser window opens and there are two options, Contact Apple Support and Bring in for Repair. Let’s click Bring in for Repair.

5 Call or bring in

There are three options and you can schedule a call to Apple Support now or later. Let’s click Bring in for Repair.

6 Sign in

You are now asked to sign in with your Apple ID - the username and password used for iTunes, iCloud and so on.

7 What’s your location?

Before you can bring you Mac in for repair, Apple must ask where you are located. Enter your location, such as a town, zip code, postcode and so on. I am going to enter a UK postcode.

8 Repair centers

Safari shows a list of places you can take your Mac to get repaired on the left and on the right is a map of the area with pins showing the locations.

9 Choose a place

Select the places in the list on the left and a pop-up window shows the address, the days it is available, and the time slots it is available. Here you can see that Tuesday to Thursday is available and there are several time slots.

10 Make an appointment

Click one of the time slots and your appointment is confirmed. I eventually chose an Apple Store and a Genius Bar reservation was made.

There are options to reschedule or cancel.

It is useful to work through this while your Mac is working OK. You might want to copy and save the list of repair centres because if your Mac fails to boot, you won’t be able to go through the procedure above.

Fortunately, I haven’t had to use this, but it is best to be prepared.