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Differences - Mac versus WinTel Machines

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by gmichaels

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I get a lot of calls from people wanting me to work on their Macs. I usually refer them elsewhwere as I have never really worked on Macs. So, my question is are there any significant differences in hardware that would prevent one from carrying over Wintel knowledge and working on/troubleshooting Macs? Or, is it mostly a question of learning to navigate the OS?

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by timwalsh

The basics of hardware troubleshooting will remain the same.

You still need to check that cards are seated, cables are connected, power is connected and turned on, etc.

The specifics of how to check if hardware is recognized and is functioningproperly is obviously different.

So the bottom line answer is that your hardware troubleshooting fundamentals will still work, but you need to learn the tools that the OS makes available to you.

by pctech

You also need to be a certified MAC repairman to get parts from Apple. You also have to play by their rules on the parts you keep on hand, at least this was the case a few short years ago. MACs, as you know, are extremely proprietary and Apple offered a breif run with MAC clones and then quickly pulled it back. Still, knowledge of the OS is crucial. I understand that their new OS is based on the UNIX kernel.

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