MacBook repair, including the boards others won't touch.

Partner store or mail-in: which is better for your MacBook?

Every MacBook repair starts with a free diagnosis and a firm price before any work. What differs is where it happens.

A nearby partner store can be a convenient choice for a battery or screen replacement, if they stock parts for your model. Partner stores set their own warranty terms and explain them to you.

For anything involving the logic board, mail-in to our lab is usually the better route. That includes a MacBook that won’t turn on, liquid damage, charging faults and data recovery. Component-level board repair needs microscopes, thermal imaging, microsoldering and schematic-level diagnosis, and most counters send that work out or replace the whole board. Shipping is free and insured both ways, we diagnose within 24 hours of arrival, and mail-in typically takes 7 to 10 days door to door. See how mail-in works.

Common MacBook faults and what causes them

• Liquid spills. The most common cause of a dead MacBook. Corrosion starts on the board right away and keeps spreading, even if the Mac seems fine at first.
• Worn or swollen batteries. After several years, capacity drops and Battery Health shows Service Recommended. A swelling battery pushes up the trackpad.
• Keyboards. The butterfly keyboards used from 2015 to 2019 are sensitive to dust and crumbs. See MacBook keyboard repair.
• Cracked screens. Usually from closing the lid on something small, or from a camera cover on a thin-bezel model.
• Charging failures. Worn ports, damaged cables, and faulty hubs or chargers that damage the USB-C power circuitry.
• Board faults. A single shorted capacitor or failed power chip can stop a whole Mac from starting.

Repair or replace your MacBook?

A MacBook that still runs a supported version of macOS and does what you need is usually worth repairing. Batteries, keyboards and screens are much cheaper than a new Mac, and most MacBooks have plenty of life left in them after the repair.

A dead Mac is where advice gets more important. The usual official answer is a new logic board, which is expensive and, on every Apple silicon and T2 Mac, wipes your files because the storage is part of the board. Component-level repair fixes the fault on your original board instead, often for far less, and keeps your data in place.

Replacement can make more sense when the Mac no longer gets macOS updates, has several major faults at once, or the repair would cost close to a newer model. We’ll say so plainly if that’s our view.

Age alone isn’t the deciding factor. An Apple silicon MacBook Air from a few years ago is still a fast, capable machine, and a battery or board repair can give it many more years. An older Intel MacBook may run its current apps well but be near the end of macOS support, which matters for security updates. Tell us how you use the Mac, and we’ll give you a straight answer.

How MacBook repair pricing works

Each repair shows a starting price, which is the lowest cost for that repair across the models we see. Your final price depends on your model, its screen size and display type, the parts involved, and any extra damage. A 16-inch MacBook Pro display costs much more than a MacBook Air battery, for example.

Liquid damage and Macs that won’t turn on start with a free check, because the fault can only be priced once it’s found. You always get a firm price before work starts, nothing is done without your approval, and if we can’t fix it, you don’t pay. See pricing.

Some repairs overlap. On many Intel-era models the battery is glued to the top case that holds the keyboard, and liquid damage often affects the keyboard and the board together. When repairs share the same work, we quote them together so you’re not paying for the same disassembly twice. For general tips on looking after your Mac, see our repair guides.

Your files, passwords and privacy

Screen, battery, keyboard and port repairs don’t touch your storage. Board repairs are designed to keep it, too. Even so, back up with Time Machine or check that iCloud Drive is synced before any repair if the Mac still works.

You don’t need to turn off Find My or sign out of your Apple Account. To test the Mac after a repair, we may ask for a login password. If you’d rather not share yours, create a separate standard user account for testing before you send it. We never bypass login passwords, FileVault or Activation Lock.

How to prepare your MacBook for repair

• Back up if you can, or note your last Time Machine or iCloud backup.
• Find your model under the Apple menu, then About This Mac, or tell us the model number printed on the bottom case.
• Remove snap-on cases, keyboard covers, camera covers and anything resting on the keyboard.
• If it got wet, leave it off, unplugged and uncharged.
• If the problem is charging, tell us which charger and cable you use.

When you’re ready, book your MacBook repair to see your price and choose a store or mail-in, and track it along the way.

Written and checked by the repair team at Charlotte Tech Repair, repairing devices in Charlotte since 2013. Updated November 2026.