If you ever wanted direct access to an Apple employee who knows the hardware inside and out, certification and GSX access allow you participate in live chats with Apple’s technicians. The prices are available at Apple’s prices, with no retail markup. Next, you’ll be able to order parts for your clients’ machines via Apple’s Global Service Exchange (GSX)-including the obscure, hard-to-find parts that are almost impossible to get your hands on via eBay or Craigslist this kind of access can make you feel as if you’re part of the club. First, it allows you to repair Macs that are currently under AppleCare warranty without risk of violating that warranty. Getting Apple certified is no small effort, but certification also give you some definite benefits. Get full details at Apple’sĪCMT Certification website, which hooks into training materials and testing centers as well. You must score 80 percent or better on each test, and achieve perfect scores in certain areas (namely, Embedded Battery Safety and Electrostatic Discharge Precautions on the Macintosh Service Certification Exam, and any and all Apple environmental policy questions that may surface). To become Apple certified, you have to jump through some hoops-specifically, you must successfully complete Apple’s Macintosh Service Certification Exam and the Mac OS X 10.8 Lion Troubleshooting Exam, each of which retails for $150.

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