This authoritative, Apple-Certified training course is designed both for professionals who support Apple computers as well as Mac enthusiasts who want to upgrade, service, or troubleshoot their favorite machines. Fully revised, this second edition covers Apple's new models, including the popular Mac mini and the iMac G5. Keyed to the learning objectives of the Apple Desktop Service and Apple Portable Service certification exams, this is the companion curriculum used in AppleCare Technician Training courses worldwide. The book starts out with basic computer theory and underlying technologies, then moves on to cover everything from networking and hardware specifications to displays and internal drives-plus the nitty-gritty steps and diagrams for upgrading and troubleshooting six sample computer models. o Detailed take-apart and upgrade procedures for the Mac mini, eMac, iMac G5, PowerMac G5, iBook G4, and PowerBook G4. o CD-ROM includes six complete service manuals, plus utilities and diagnostic tools o Diagrams and step-by-step instructions help you master techniques fast o Lesson goals and time estimates help you plan your time o Chapter review tests summarize what you've learned The Apple Training Series is both a self-paced learning tool and the companion curriculum for the AppleCare Technician Training and Apple Customer Training programs. Upon completing the course material in this book, you can become an Apple Certified Technician by passing the Apple Desktop Service and Apple Portable Service exams. You can work through this book as a self-paced course, enroll in the online AppleCare Technician Training program, or attend a class at an Apple Authorized Training Center. To learn more, go to www.apple.com/training.

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 7 Ratings

Great Apple Hardware Manual - 2005-01-07
Reviewer Rating:
This book is part of the AppleCare training curriculum, designed to be a training manual for people who want to get certified by Apple to be an AppleCare-certified technician. As such, each chapter in the book is a Lesson. Early lessons cover topices such as "General Troubleshooting Theory," and "Safe Working Procedures and General Maintenance."

Lessons 5 through 10 cover common hardware and technologies, including basic computer theory , underlying technologies, liquid crystal displays (LCDs), cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), wired networking and wireless networking.

If you are a person who likes to do your own upgrading and maintenance of your Mac, you'll find this book very helpful. Likewise, if you want to make your living taking apart Macs and replacing parts as repair or upgrade.

This book does not cover Operating Systems. If you want to solve a problem in OS 9 or OS X, you need a different book. But, if you want to see the "Take-Aparts" for certain Mac models, including iMacs, iBooks, mini-towers and PowerBooks, this is for you. Both CRT-based and Flat-Panel based computers are covered.

There is a good section on how to search the AppleCare knowledge base, and doing advanced searches. They recommend you bookmark Apple Knowledge Base document 75178, as it gives good info on how to use keywords to search the Knowledge Base. And another section on locating Apple replacement parts.

The main reason this book has over 800 pages is the copious amount of photos. They support the step-by -step instructions for installing or replacing hard drives, optical drives, RAM, Airport Cards, etc.

I'm glad I got this book, as it will be useful when I want to upgrade the hard drive on our G4 flat-panel iMac and add a second hard drive to my G5 desktop.

Apple states in the beginning of the book, "Whether you are an experienced technician or someone who just wants to dig deep into a Macintosh, you'll find in-depth technical service information as well as a comprenhensive overview of the service tools and procedures used by AppleCare-certified technicians to diagnose, upgrade and maintain Macintosh computers."

Very usefull tool to have in your mac repair kit - 2006-02-01
Reviewer Rating:
I have relied on this book a few times now when repairing the older clamshell style ibooks and also some of the newer G3 and G4 white ibooks. It's got a pretty helpful guide for taking them apart and putting them back together. I have also used this book as a reference tool to determine what configurations various Macs I am selling or working on had when they were first introduced. For example I sold my G4 powermac sawtooth and wanted to know exactly what specifications it had, so I looked in the book and found the 500 mhz powermac G4 (gigabit ethernet) and found it was released in 2000, it also showed the cache, number of memory slots, expansion slots, basic stuff like that for a quick reference. And it covers all models of ibooks and powermacs, imacs, but not all powerbooks unfortunately. It does not have any info on the pismos, lombards or wallstreets powerbooks or any older macs. That would be the only draw-back, I wish it had some information on the G3 powerbooks. It also has chapter tests at the end of each chapter, that are unfortunately pretty basic simple questions. Great big useful book for any mac tech or just plain apple computer users who want a little more info on their computer.

Very Informative As Far As It Goes...But More Detail Needed - 2007-01-26
Reviewer Rating:
An Apple repair manual for desktops and portables printed by Apple? I couldn't believe it when I saw it on Amazon; so, I had to order it!

All the essential information for user upgradeable components is covered in great detail with pictures. There are trouble shooting procedures for each recent Apple desktop and portable. When my iBook refused to boot, I diagnosed the need for a logic board upgrade using the book. (I was 99% sure of the problem before since I had a similar issue on a refurb iBook a year or so prior, but I digress...)

Detailed procedures are provided for all the steps up to the point but not including the instructions needed to remove the logic board. (This is true for each model, not just the iBook.) When disassembling and re-assembling the iBook, it is very important that these instructions be followed exactly and the correct screws used for each hole. Failure to put the correct screw type in the proper hole can (and will) damage the iBook logic board, optical drive, and other components. (I almost learned this the hard way, and I don't recall seeing this warning in the book!) I was able to install my own logic board by carefully marking each screw with its location on a set of diagrams I drew. This took extra time, but it saved me from breaking another component. Also, make sure that you attach the heat sink correctly with the proper heat conducting tape.

It would have been nice to expand coverage to include removal and installation of logic boards. This would greatly expand the number of pages of the book, possibly making it unwieldy. Perhaps this should have been two books? one for desktops and one for portables?

MIA CD please - 2009-09-10
Reviewer Rating:
It came in a very timely manner. However the book came with a CD and if your not sending it, would have been nice to know. Book was more abused than stated as well. Thanks for sending so fast though.

What I needed for a quick answer - 2007-11-24
Reviewer Rating:
My old G4 desktop suddenly died, with some weird patterns on the screen and, though the power and fan kept going, there were none of the usual sounds from the harddrive. I live in a town with no Apple repairs and being short on money, didn't have funds to ship it off and potentially write a blank check to some repair guy I would never see. I didn't even know if it would be worth doing at all. Peachpit has a good trackrecord for Mac stuff, so I gambled and ordered this book to figure out what to do next, to see if it would even be worth fixing. Well, the book helped a lot, and narrowed things down to a motherboard problem, with either a replacement of the motherboard battery ($15) or the motherboard itself (ouch, over $700 from what I could find). I replaced the battery and that wasn't it, so this book saved me from shipping off my computer and paying for the shipping and then with that money already gone, trying to figure out what to do about a motherboard + repair cost I wouldn't have had the money to cover. So my computer is still dead, but at least I didn't throw a lot of good money after bad money. It is a nice book, attractive design, etc. Worth its weight in gold for those folks stuck in rural areas without Apple repair places nearby. I would have given it 5 stars but I still needed to check some stuff online at Mac FAQ that had some better diagrams and photos of battery replacement.

Browse Similar Topics

Top Level Categories:
Hardware

Sub-Categories:
Hardware > Apple