Macintosh Computer Service & Support

We talked about it briefly in our Internet Security article back in November of 2010 and we hinted around quite a bit throughout 2011. Let's face it — Macs have always been our passion. Today, we officially announce that we're back in the Macintosh Computer Service And Support business — ready to serve clients in North Vancouver and West Vancouver.

Call it our twentieth anniversary since our affiliation with Apple began twenty years ago in 1992 — working as an Apple Authorized Reseller and Service Provider on the North Shore. We went on to become an Authorized Apple Specialist just four years after venturing into the computer business.

We really knew our stuff and worked hard to keep our customers happy (much of the time from eight in the morning until midnight, seven days a week). Our client base quickly expanded into almost all other areas of the Lower Mainland. By 1997, there were five of us here looking after Mac support and sales. Those were the best days of our lives, especially when Steve Jobs returned to Apple. Bless his soul.

The five of us back in the "good old days" — the summer of 1997 (that's a PowerBook 170 on the left and a PowerBook Duo 2300c on the right — real speed demons)

In 2002, with our web design business really beginning to take off, we changed the name of our company to MW Web Design & Mac Consulting and in the summer of 2003, we moved to a new location. Unfortunately, it was around this time when many of the smaller resellers like ourselves began to feel the "pinch". The Apple Store for Canada really began to take off and sales-wise, it hurt us big time. This, combined with an illness which knocked me down and out, resulted in our decision to drop the Mac side of our business in 2006. Naturally, our affiliation with 1 Infinite Loop came to an end. Not by Cupertino's choice. By our choice.

My prized Apple Specialist leather jacket — I don't go anywhere without it unless it's a hot sunny day (in other words, I wear it about 345 days a year since the rain here in Vancouver seldom ever seems to stop)

Once again, the time has come to Think Different and it's good to be back. Back to the Mac. We're definitely "thinking different" this time around in the way we do things. We're offering non-warranty Macintosh computer service, repair, support and consulting without the sales. If you need on-site Mac troubleshooting services, advice or help with your Apple computer system, we're here to assist you. The only products we'll be offering will be Kingston Memory Upgrades, a variety of internal hard drives and LaCie External Hard Drives. You can learn more about exactly what we offer on the Frequently Asked Questions page of our new website.

My Apple Product Professional pin — unfortunately, I lost my Apple Specialist pin when it fell off of my leather jacket one fateful day (chalk it up to computer stress)

As much as we enjoyed selling Apple computer products throughout the nineties and into the new millennium, the profit margins became worse and worse. When the first little Bondi Blue iMac was released on May 6th, 1998, our cost on these machines was a whopping eight dollars less than the retail price we were selling them at. Retail pricing on Apple products never varies. An iMac costs just the same at the Apple Store as it does down the street at your local electronics store and downtown at one of the reseller outlets. That's why we just can't justify signing up with the sales channel all over again. The profit isn't there unless you sell huge quantities of computers and peripheral devices.

Having said that, selling Macs came as an afterthought back in 1994 anyway. Offering Macintosh support was how we originally got started in 1992 and we're going back to our roots by focusing on out-of-warranty Macintosh service, troubleshooting and consulting once again. Sans sales. Note that even if you're covered by a one-year limited (or three-year extended) AppleCare Warranty, there are still many issues which Apple won't cover. Have a look at Apple's Warranty Terms & Conditions and pay close attention to section 4 — section 4.2 (xi) in particular.

Our Mac website is a re-worked version of our original site from 2004. Nothing fancy. Just plain and simple and to-the-point. We'll be re-designing it within the next few months but our goal was to get the message out first. We're back (our brand new site was just completed on March 25th, 2012 — we'll be moving it over to a dedicated domain shortly).

Before we go, here's a small sampling of what we do:

• Non-warranty service and support for any G3, G4, G5 and Intel-based Mac
• System software installations and troubleshooting for Mac OS X versions 10.2 to 10.7
• Mac memory upgrades
• Internal hard drive upgrades and replacements
• Hard drive reformats and operating system reinstallations
• External hard drive systems for backup and additional storage
• AirPort and Time Capsule wireless networking
• Custom-designed AppleScript scripting systems
• Lots more

As a Certified Mac Technician with over twenty years of experience, equipped with the latest diagnostic tools and software, I look forward to being of assistance to local Mac users in need of help. Please feel free to visit MW Mac Consulting for more information.

[Updated 01.24.12] Just a quick update for all you Mac lovers out there. They did it again. Apple announced its Highest Quarterly Revenue And Earnings Ever with a quarterly revenue of 46.33 billion dollars and a quarterly net profit of 13.06 billion dollars. 37.04 million iPhones (our iPhone included), 15.43 million iPads and 5.2 million Macs were sold during the company's fiscal 2012 first quarter ending on December 31st, 2011. Time to Get A Mac! Unbelievable. We never dreamed things could be this good back in the nineties.

[Updated 02.29.12] Apple's stock market value topped the 500 billion dollar mark early today. As one of the fastest growing technology companies on the planet, Apple became one of the five most valuable companies at any point in history early this morning.

[Updated 03.16.12] In anticipation of today's new iPad launch, Apple's stock market value reached new heights once again when it topped the 600 billion dollar mark yesterday morning. Morgan Stanley bumped the Apple stock price target to 720 billion dollars on Wednesday. A good reason to celebrate and an even better reason to be back in the Mac business.