The "Sure I'll Take A Look At It"

My Problem

The owner of the "not tech related company" I work for asked me, if I'd be interested in taking a look at his Macbook Pro that is broken. He said he was working on it, while it was on top of his car. "Something happened" and it slid off the roof and landed with a CRUNCH! After taking a look at it, I noticed that one of the corners of the display had shattered. Having never done repairs on Apple products but knowing my way around PCs I figured I could come here and get a good guide, tools and replacement parts. Plus I was offered compensation for my time.

My Fix

I rode down to my local Fry's Electronics and picked up a full set of iFixIt tools and some compressed air (it has been a good 5 years since I've had to fix any tech and three moves in between). I sat down and dedicated an entire morning to the task. Coffee on one side and my tools on another, I opened my personal Macbook and navigated my way to iFixIt.com. Found the guide and turned on one of my new favorite podcasts (Accidental Tech Podcast). Going step by step through the guide I labeled and taped down any screws and parts I removed, trying to keep them all in order. When I finished the breakdown I was relieved at how straight forward it was. I got the okay to order the replacement screen from iFixIt.com from the boss and waited two days for it to arrive. Once the display was in hand, I sat down and spent half the time putting it all back together. Total time spent on the repair came to 90 minutes with 30 extra for running around and doing other things.

My Advice

If you ever thought it was impossible, know that it's not. When all was said and down I went through the guide one last time. I noticed a typo and was happy to see that I didn't have to submit a request for an edit, I was actually able to change the guide on the spot. It was a mistake down at the bottom for T6 Torx instead of what it should have been a T8 Torx. The guide said the repair was rated as difficult. I didn't feel that one bit. The guild, tools, replacement parts all made it simple and understandable. The owner of the "not tech related company" I work for now considers me a Wizard. All without 8 years at Wizarding school and taking OWLS or NEWTS.