The difference
Swapping a board is not a repair.
When one resistor burns out on a MacBook logic board, when a charging chip gives up or a trace corrodes away, the board is not dead. One spot is. The official channel swaps the entire module in that case, because it is fast and easy to schedule. The customer then pays for hundreds of parts that were still working perfectly.
We do the opposite. We look under the microscope for the spot that failed, and we repair it. The board you get back is your own board. With your own SSD, and therefore with your own files still on it.
“The whole logic board had to be replaced and that would cost 400 euros.”From a public forum post about an Apple repair
“According to Apple the repair would cost between 800 and 900 euros.”From a public complaint by a Belgian customer
Those are not outliers, that is simply how module replacement adds up. And the sentence that often follows is the one that really hurts: that the data cannot be saved.
In English
If you live here and work in English.
Plenty of people in Brussels, Antwerp and Leuven work in English and never quite got round to Dutch or French. Getting a laptop repaired in a language you do not speak is exactly the kind of errand that keeps getting postponed, and meanwhile the machine sits in a drawer getting worse.
So: you can do all of this in English. The request form, the quote, the photos of your board, the questions you have halfway through, the invoice. We answer in English and we do not switch back on you.
You never have to come here either. Almost everything goes by post, insured in both directions, and the whole of Belgium is one working day away from our bench.
What we repair
The work where most shops stop.
Every fault below comes down to the same thing: somewhere a connection is broken. We find out where, and we make it whole again.
Logic board
Will not turn on, no sign of life, a short circuit, a burnt component. We measure the board through and replace what failed.
Read onMicrosoldering
Parts half a millimetre across, corroded traces, lifted pads. Work under a stereo microscope, with hot air and solder.
Read onLiquid damage
Coffee, tea, water, cola. Ultrasonic cleaning, corrosion removed, and only then repairing what is actually broken.
Read onFlexgate
The screen cuts out when you open the lid further, or light patches appear along the bottom. A known fault on the 2016 to 2019 MacBook Pro.
Read onStaingate
The screen coating peels away, usually starting near the camera or along the edges. Fixable without a new screen.
Read onData recovery
The SSD is soldered to the board. If the board will not start, your files are still there. We go and get them.
Read onPosting it
From any Belgian address, back within five working days.
You ask
Tell us the model and the fault. Within one working day you get a bpost label and a price estimate.
You pack and send
Box, bubble wrap, label on top, drop it at a bpost point. The parcel is insured up to 1,000 euros.
We open and measure
You hear from us the moment it arrives, then you get photos of the board and the real diagnosis. Only after that do we ask you to approve.
Tested and insured back
After the repair the machine goes through a round of tests. Then it travels back to your address, insured.
Fixed in advance
Four things settled before you post anything.
We never ask for your password. Component-level work does not need one, and your files are none of our business.
Try it yourself
This is what we do, in miniature.
Below is a trace that has broken. Hold the button down until the iron is up to temperature and the solder fills the gap. Let go too early and everything cools down again.
In real life this happens under a microscope, on traces thinner than a hair.
Connection restored. This is exactly what happens to your board.
Prices
A fixed price per type of repair, readable in advance.
Almost no Belgian workshop puts numbers here. We do, so you know where you stand before you put anything in a box.
| Repair | What it covers | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Diagnosis | Measurements, photos of the board, a quote. Taken off the bill entirely if you go ahead. | €49 |
| Logic board, light | Charging port, charging chip, a single component, one trace. | €149 |
| Logic board, heavy | Short circuit on a rail, an IC replaced, several traces. | €229 |
| Liquid damage | Full strip down, ultrasonic bath, corrosion removed, repair. | €299 |
| Flexgate 13 inch | Display cable replaced and routed with slack so it does not come back. | €169 |
| Data recovery | Files off a board that will not start. A starting price, because this work varies enormously. | from €349 |
The full list, by model and by fault, is on the prices page. If your case falls outside these boxes you hear about it after the diagnosis, before anything happens.
Questions
What people ask us first.
Do my files survive a logic board repair?
In almost every case, yes. On every MacBook from 2016 onwards the storage is soldered onto the logic board. If we repair that board, the storage stays where it is and so do your files. If a board is replaced instead of repaired, the storage leaves with the old board, and that is exactly why people lose everything during a swap.
We ask up front whether there is anything on there you cannot afford to lose. If there is, we take a copy before we touch the board at all.
What if it does not work?
Then you do not pay for the repair. You pay only the return postage, so your machine comes home. We also tell you honestly what options are left, even when that means you are better off buying something else.
How long does it really take?
Five working days from the moment your machine is with us, return trip included. Heavy liquid damage sometimes takes longer, because corrosion only shows itself after cleaning. If it runs late, you hear it from us and not the other way round.
Do I have to hand over my password?
No. For component-level work we test on the board itself and on the connectors, and none of that needs a login. Only data recovery sometimes needs access, and then we ask for it separately and explain why.
I do not speak Dutch or French. Is that a problem?
Not at all. Everything can run in English, from the first message to the invoice. Filling in the form in English is fine, and so is calling us.
Do you use original parts?
In microsoldering, most of the work is reconnecting the original components or replacing them with the same type. Where a module has to be swapped, such as a display cable or a battery, we use original Apple parts. If that is not possible on an older model, we say so before, not after.
Request
Tell us what happened.
You get an answer within one working day, with a price estimate and a shipping label. Nothing to pay, nothing to commit to.
Rather call? +32 51 11 10 03
Or email: info@macboardfix.eu