Take a Bite of Apple Hardware Support by Becoming an Apple Certified Macintosh Technician

Apple works hard to elevate it products to the point that they are more than the sum of their parts. When push comes to shove, however, a laptop by any other name is still a laptop, and laptops need maintenance. Desktops, too. Also MP3 players, smartphones, watches, tablets and TVs. As many Apple lovers have come to find out, expecting a lowercase "i" to protect your device isn't even as effective as just putting it in a case.

Putting it in an ... uppercase? Rubbercase?

Forget it. The point is that a falling apple hasn't been a good thing since Isaac Newton, and every day iLovers are discovering this the hard way. This means that, barring any catastrophic Apple failure, there's going to be work for Apple technicians. And to the surprise of nobody who reached this site intentionally, there's a cert for that.

It's the Apple Certified Macintosh Technician (ACMT), which I will spend the rest of the article referring to as the iCertified Macnician, because I'm dumb like that. This is a wonderful cert if you're already a hardware technician who's been hampered by Apple's strict warranty, and it's a must-have if you're looking to work with Apple products exclusively. And Apple's popularity means that while this is a vendor-specific cert, you're not pigeonholing yourself by any stretch of the imagination.

A Macnician is not a magician, but is expected to have a working understanding of the MacOS, including installation and troubleshooting, as well as the obvious hardware know-how. Applicants will need to pass two exams; the Macintosh Service Certification Exam, which measures hardware acumen; and the OS X Yosemite 10.10 Troubleshooting Exam, which leans a bit more into software. Each exam costs $150 and requires a 100 percent score in certain areas, like Embedded Battery Safety and Electrostatic Discharge Precautions. Otherwise, they require 80 percent or higher.

Obtaining the exam gives the Macnician access to Apple's Global Service Exchange, where they'll be able to access chat support from experienced Apple-employed techs and order Apple components that would be virtually impossible to find anywhere else. Macnicians can also repair machines under the AppleCare warranty without violating the terms, although you'll be most safe in this if you work for a certified partner or service provider. Speaking of which, the certification also opens up a lot of jobs with Apple-certified service partners, resellers and self-supporting institutions like universities.

Now, before you get too iXcited, we should probably cover the areas where you'll be a bit limited. To begin with, you'll only be able to access the Global Service Exchange from an approved self-supporting institution or service partner, unless you're specifically vetted by Apple.

Apple offers preparatory courses for the certification. Typically, classes are held in the same Apple Authorized Training Centers where the exams are administered, and they come in both five-day and two-day formats. For training times and prices, or to schedule an exam, you'll need to contact the closest center. Additionally, for around $300, you can order a year's worth of AppleCare Technician Training.

Here's the bottom line: if you want or need to work with Apple products, you need this certification. Look up the nearest Apple Authorized Training Center and get started today.