Graphite – Apple Specialist

The wonderful folks at Graphite helped me say goodbye to an old friend: my 17″ 2008 Macbook Pro. This workhorse computer saw me through a lot of hard times, from dissertation-​writing to starting my own business, website, and beyond.
I had already been to the Apple Store for emergency Rx after getting the black screen of death, only to realize that those poor technicians are working within a very tight timeframe and under high pressure. Though knowledgeable and friendly (at least in my particular case), they are almost certainly unequipped to tackle the more complicated issues like a fried hard drive or logic board. I am so very glad, though, that they referred me to Graphite for further diagnostic help.
A visit to Graphite confirmed my worst fears: the hard drive was fried. Thus began an epic, 2-​month quest for the perfect computer that fit within my budget, but that also got me certain minimum specs that I just couldn’t do without. At first, I wanted a refurbished 17-​incher from 2010 or later. Bob, the owner, did some sleuthing for me: he tracked down some representative models online, looked at all the specs, ran the numbers, and gave me the breakdown of what it would cost to get the computer up to my minimum requirements. That convinced me to target a newer, 15-​inch model.
Finally, Bob told me about a fantastic special Graphite was running and I was hooked. I ended up with a new, BANGING computer. My data was all backed up from my old computer, but I didn’t want to lose some of my programs if they could be salvaged. So Bob spent a LOT of time on migration, since my hard drive was apparently fried in a most spectacular way. Despite that, he didn’t charge me any more than the original quote. He also spent a lot of time with me to be sure that programs had transferred and were working properly, and that everything was set up correctly.
The staff at Graphite are all friendly, capable, and HAPPY. Bob told me that he has a couple of staff who came to him by way of the Apple Store: not only were they well trained, but they also gravitated to an environment in which they could spend more time taking care of customers.
Graphite is in the process of expanding and remodeling as a part of gaining Apple Premier Reseller status. This is going to be an incredibly cool store to visit, and I’ll definitely be back (once my wallet recovers) to check it out. So if an optic-​nerve-​fryingly bright, pressure-​cooker type of environment isn’t your thing when you’re shopping for Apple products or getting technical help, come give Graphite a look.
Actually, you should really check it out anyway.

These guys are tops in their field and locally owned as well. I’ve always had a much more personal experience here compared to the «non-​local store» where I originally purchased my MacBook Pro years ago… so glad I found them! Seriously, I cannot express enough how Beau and the others always come through for me. The time they’ve spent with me (and other customers while I waited for my downloads) is rare in this day and age. They’ve always finished up with tons of tips on how to keep my laptop running smoothly. Love that I’m keeping my $$$ local as well!!!

So glad I brought my 1929 iMac here for repair.
My hard drive crashed and my last backup was seriously old (I know I know). The first Apple authorized shop I took it to was not able to recover any data off the hard drive. They offered to replace my drive and referred me to an advanced data recovery outfit to perform surgery on my old hard drive and pay upwards of $ 900 if they succeeded in getting any data off of it.
I decided to get a second opinion.
Graphite (Alex to be specific) recovered the data. They also suggested a solid state hard drive which made the computer pretty much sing Amazing Grace. Did I mention that he managed to recover my data? Another bonus — Graphite’s final bill to me for everything — the data recovery, new solid state drive and reload of all my crap was less than what the other place would have added to my bill for the hard drive alone.
#worththedrivetostoughtonroad