With what a Mac computer costs, it is also normal for Apple to provide excellent customer service and technicians ready for any warranty computer repair. However, you cannot bring a computer to assist with any problem, also because if it is no longer under warranty, you risk paying a lot of money for repairs that perhaps you could even do yourself.
Especially in the case of more frequent problems and errors on the software side, that is related to the operating system and the programs in use, it is worth trying to repair the Mac independently following this general guide, which cannot be complete, but which should represent a preliminary technical document absolutely to be kept.
READ ALSO: Guide to repair your computer without going to the technician
1) First point: Backup
Before serious problems occur on the Mac that can affect its operation and before doing any operation on the system in trying to solve some errors, it is important to have important data safe.
The Mac has an automatic backup function called Time Machine which should already be active or it must be configured using an external hard disk to be connected to the Mac to backup the data.
To find out more, there is nothing better than Apple's guide to Time Machine.
2) Updates and antivirus check
Before anything else, you should make sure that everything on your computer is up to date: operating system, applications and peripheral firmware.
To update your Mac, go to the Apple menu -> App Store and check the updates section to see if there are any applications to update.
If you are using other applications that do not come from the official App Store, check if there are new versions on the developer sites or by using an app like MacUpdate that checks by itself if there are updates to download.
To be more calm then do a virus scan.
Viruses also exist on Macs, especially in the form of adware which can cause many problems.
You can then download an antivirus for Mac or a program like Adware Medic specifically for adware.
3) Diagnose the problem: hardware test
To understand the cause of the problem on a Mac you must first check if it is a hardware malfunction, that is linked to the internal pieces of the computer or software, linked to the system which for some reason may have lost the right configuration.
To check that the hardware is in place, you can use the Apple Diagnostics or Apple Hardware Test tool.
To use this tool, turn off your Mac, disconnect all peripherals (except power supply, mouse, keyboard and Ethernet connector.
Press the power button and hold down the D button until Apple Diagnostics starts.
Select a language, press enter and start the hardware test.
Once finished, you will get a report with some information on any problems found.
To learn more about this tool, see the Apple guide.
4) Solving software side problems
If the hardware is ok, then there are errors on the MacOS system that you can try to solve automatically using the internal Disk Utility tool (from Applications -> Utility )
In particular, in the SOS tab it is possible to resolve errors related to authorizations and to the disk, putting it back especially after a blackout during use.
Authorization problems can often cause the most unexplained errors, so it's good that there is a check and repair tool.
If there are many authorizations that need to be repaired, this may take some time.
For more information, read the Apple Guide on Disk Utility.
READ ALSO: 9 Ways to restart your Mac and restore the correct boot
Regarding system problems, it is also worth reading the Apple guide to isolate a problem //support.apple.com/it-it/TS1388
4) Restore NVRAM / PRAM and SMC
The random-access parameter memory (PRAM) and the system management controller (SMC) can cause problems on a MAC so you can try to see if things improve by resetting the NVRAM or PRAM .
Then turn off the computer, turn it on and, before the gray screen appears, press the keys Command - Option (Alt) - P - R together .
Keep the keys pressed until the computer restarts and release the keys (see guide)
To do the SMC recovery (guide) depends on the type of computer you are using.
For a MacBook with a removable battery: turn off the computer, disconnect the power adapter, remove the battery, press and hold the power button for five seconds.
Replace the battery, connect the power supply and turn on the computer.
If your MacBook does not have a removable battery: turn off the computer, connect the power supply and press on the keyboard together, Shift-Ctrl-Option and the power button.
Release all the keys at the same time and then turn on the computer.
On a Mac Pro, an Intel iMac, an Intel mini Mac: Turn off the computer, disconnect the power cable, wait fifteen seconds, reconnect the cable, turn on the computer.
5) Remove the wrong software
If there is a specific application that appears to be causing the problem, the best solution is to uninstall it and see if the computer starts working better.
If so, you can try reinstalling it from scratch and maybe the initial problem won't come up again.
6) Reinstall MacOS
If you are unable to resolve the problem, if something is not broken inside and if we have the time Machine backup, it is worth doing a reset / restore of the Mac and reinstall MacOS .
In summary, three steps are enough to reset the Mac:
- Restart your Mac.
- When you see the gray screen, hold down the Command + R keys.
- When the option is available, select " Reinstall MacOS ", follow the instructions on the screen and restart your computer.
If the problem persists even after a reinstall from scratch, then there is a hardware malfunction that, probably, will only be able to fix a specialized technician, also given the difficulty of repairing a Mac.
Before putting your hand to the wallet, however, it is worth taking a look, in addition to the Apple Diagnostic I mentioned above, to some online resources.
There are plenty of sites to find tutorials and information on how to fix a Mac, the best ones being iFixit, Instructables and YouTube.
iFixit is also an online store where you can buy Mac-specific DIY repair tools.
READ ALSO: Optimize your Mac and do MacOS maintenance
