[SOLVED] Is knowing Apple computer maintenance profitable?

[nirrtix]

I am studying for A+ certification and well PC techs are a dime a dozen. The other problem is that when someones PC breaks they just buy another for $300. However replacing an Apple costs much more. I am not sure how many Apple technicians there are vs PC but I do know that the A+ certification barely touches Apple. I do know Apple has a decent market for their computers as well.

 

[azaran]

If you want to be a tech, knowing both Apple is a great idea. Its harder to get certified but it never hurts to have the extra knowledge. Apple techs are much harder to find than PC so it will increase your job market. But depending on where you live that may or may not be a thing. I live in a college town and the market is huge, but an hour north and the Apple market is much much smaller.

 

[nirrtix]

Well I live in a town that has several colleges (Houston) anyhow thank you.

 

[mrmez]

Yep, it helps. But only a little.

http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/10/15/only-5-of-mac-users-at-ibm-need-help-desk-support-compared-to-40-of-pc-users

According to IBM who are busy switching many users from PC's to Mac's, the difference in tech support requirements is staggering.
While 40% of PC users will contact tech support, only 5% of Mac users will.
For a company, having to employ, train and supply gear for tech support can be very expensive, even without adding the cost of end user down time while the problem is fixed.

Given the low rates of support needed, training yourself for Mac's will be a very low priority.

Every time i've called Apple, i get through within a 1-3 minutes, speak to an Australian, not an Indian, and they are never bothered about exceeding the 90 day support. They normally don't mind if it's out of warranty either. All this works against you.

You'd have more luck getting into the hardware side of things.
Bigger hard drives, upgrade to SSD, SSD and HDD combo, ram (even though it's stupidly easy most of the time).

 

[nirrtix]

well right now I am looking for anything that gets me into the field and paid... I noticed more places other than apple are offering services to repair apple computers, so I thought it might be worth looking into.

 

[azaran]

Since it sounds like you have a good sized college population, it'd probably be a quick way to get a spot in a shop or do your own freelance. The trick is either A) getting apple certified or B) familer enough with the equipment to work on it. I kinda harp on the whole student thing because after living in a college town for 28 years, and working for a local college for 8, it seems you either get students on a $400 laptop special or some ungodly expensive Macbook, both of which are treated about the same. Knowing how to do repairs or upgrades is always going to be a much needed skill around them. Now this is assuming out of warranty work, like someone spilled a glass of wine on the thing and Apple voids out the warranty. As far as enterprise level tech support, thats going to be a much different beast.

 

[nirrtix]

Yeah there are a lot of students who live here as well as students who come here to visit famils when they break their machines. As you know some are a little more careless with their computers than others. Yes those apple machines are godly expensive. I use a PC for gaming, but if there is money in Apple computers I might try to learn them I cleaned my friends apple computer of junk downloads and installs pretty easily... it is just different is all.

 

[McHenryB]

Just make sure, if you are charging people for this service, that you are properly trained in the equipment and know exactly what you are doing. Make a mistake with Apple gear and you could face a hefty bill in compensation. Also, you need to get trained in older gear as any recent equipment will be covered by Apple's warranty.

 

[azaran]

Yeah there are a lot of students who live here as well as students who come here to visit famils when they break their machines. As you know some are a little more careless with their computers than others. Yes those apple machines are godly expensive. I use a PC for gaming, but if there is money in Apple computers I might try to learn them I cleaned my friends apple computer of junk downloads and installs pretty easily... it is just different is all.

Yep, a computer is a computer. You just have to know what does what in it. The hard part is getting the experience with Apple.