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PC & Mac Health Check — Family MacBook Audit in Wimbledon SW19

A Wimbledon family brought in two MacBooks for health checks before a new school year. We found one with a swelling battery and one in good health — with actionable reports for both.

4 min read By PC Macgicians Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (2019) and MacBook Pro 13-inch (2016)

A Wimbledon family brought in two MacBooks for health checks before the start of a new school year — a MacBook Air used by a student and a MacBook Pro used for family and work tasks. We found one battery fault requiring immediate attention and one machine in good health, with written reports for both.

Case Summary

Device
MacBook Air A1932 (2019) and MacBook Pro A1708 (2016)
Problem
Routine pre-term check — no specific symptoms reported by family
Diagnosis
MacBook Air: healthy. MacBook Pro: battery swelling and at 58% capacity; base panel bowing
Fix
MacBook Pro battery replaced. MacBook Air — no action required
Outcome
Both machines ready for the school year; battery fault identified and resolved before causing trackpad damage
Timeframe
Same day for health checks; MacBook Pro battery replaced next day

What Was Happening

A family from Wimbledon SW19 brought in two MacBooks in late August, ahead of the start of term. The MacBook Air 13-inch (2019) belonged to their child starting sixth form; the MacBook Pro 13-inch (2016) was the family and work machine shared between two adults. Neither machine had any specific reported symptoms — the family simply wanted to know both machines were in good condition before the busy term period began.

The MacBook Pro was six years old and had been used heavily since purchase. The MacBook Air was three years old and had been the student’s primary study machine.

Our Health Check Findings

MacBook Air 13-inch 2019 (A1932):

Drive: 256GB SSD, SMART healthy, 62% used. Memory: 8GB, test passed. Battery: 89% of original capacity, 312 cycle count. Within normal range for the age. Thermal: Normal. Fan functional. Startup: 8 items — all legitimate Apple services and one study app.

Classification: No action required. Machine in good health for its age. Battery replacement likely needed in 12–18 months based on current degradation rate.

MacBook Pro 13-inch 2016 (A1708):

Drive: 256GB SSD, SMART healthy, 71% used. Memory: 8GB, test passed. Battery: 58% of original capacity, 921 cycle count. Service warning threshold exceeded. Physical: Base panel showing visible bow — approximately 2mm lift at the centre when placed on a flat surface. Thermal: Normal — the swollen battery had not yet affected internal clearances. Trackpad: Responding correctly. No click interference yet.

Classification: Battery replacement required promptly. The swelling had not yet reached the trackpad mechanism, but at the current stage of expansion it would do so within weeks. Replacing now avoided the secondary cost and complication of trackpad damage.

How We Fixed It

MacBook Air: No action. Written report provided documenting all findings.

MacBook Pro: Battery replacement carried out the following morning. The swollen battery was removed using approved depressurisation and adhesive-release techniques. Replacement battery fitted and tested through a full charge cycle. Base panel seated flat after battery replacement.

Both machines were returned with written reports — a one-page plain-English summary of everything tested, everything found, and what was done or recommended.

Why a Pre-Term Check Makes Sense

The start of a new school year is one of the worst times for a primary study machine to fail. Students working to deadlines, families adjusting to new routines — a laptop failure in the first two weeks of term arrives at maximum inconvenience.

A health check in August addresses this proactively. Most faults that develop suddenly — battery failures, drive failures, cooling system blockages — give diagnostic warning signs weeks or months before they actually interrupt use. A check catches these while there is time to act without disruption.

For families with multiple machines, a batch check is efficient. Both machines come in together, both reports come back together, and any work identified can be prioritised clearly rather than reacting to whichever machine fails first.

Prevention Tips

  • Book a health check before term starts, not after something has gone wrong — August is a good time for school and university households
  • For MacBook Pros from 2015 to 2019, check for base panel bowing annually — it is the early warning sign for battery swelling that can be caught before trackpad damage occurs
  • If a machine is more than 5 years old and has never had professional attention, a health check is almost always productive — these machines are at the age where preventable faults are common

Local Help in Wimbledon SW19

We offer PC and Mac health checks at our Putney workshop for Wimbledon families and professionals. Free collection from SW19 and SW20 means the machines come to us — we return them with written reports and clear recommendations. We’re about 12–18 minutes from Wimbledon via the A3.

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Key Takeaways

  • A pre-term health check is an efficient way to identify faults in family machines before they cause disruption during the school year
  • Two machines can be health-checked in a single visit — we provide separate written reports for each
  • Battery swelling on a 2016 MacBook Pro is common and often goes unnoticed until the trackpad is already affected — a health check catches it before that stage
  • A machine that gets a clean health check report is not just reassuring — it documents the baseline so future comparisons are meaningful

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