It’s a reasonable assumption that a computer is a computer, and they all fail in much the same way. Our records say otherwise. We went through more than 15,000 workshop jobs and compared the fault mix on Apple machines against the picture across all machines. The differences are large and consistent — and they line up neatly with how each platform is built and used.
The headline comparison
Here’s the fault mix on Apple machines (MacBooks and iMacs) set against all machines we see:
| Fault category | Apple machines | All machines |
|---|---|---|
| Screen / display | ~17% | ~18% |
| Won’t boot / no power | ~14% | ~15% |
| Slow / health check / overheating | ~10% | ~10% |
| Liquid damage | ~9% | ~5% |
| Logic board / motherboard | ~9% | ~4% |
| Battery | ~7% | ~4% |
| SSD upgrade | ~7% | ~4% |
| Data recovery | ~4% | ~8% |
| Keyboard / trackpad | ~4% | ~4% |
| Virus / malware | ~3.5% | ~11% |
Screens, boot failures and general slowdowns are common on both — those are universal. It’s the highlighted rows where the platforms diverge sharply.
Where Macs are different
Liquid damage — roughly double. Liquid damage is about 9% of Apple jobs versus 5% overall. MacBooks live where drinks live — desks, kitchen tables, cafes, sofas — and their thin, tightly-packed construction gives a spill a short trip to the keyboard, battery and logic board. When a spill reaches the board, it becomes one of the more serious repairs there is, which is why it looms so large in the Mac numbers.
Logic-board faults — more than double. Board-level faults are around 9% of Apple work versus 4% overall. Part of this is liquid (see above) tracking down to the board; part is that MacBook owners are more likely to pursue a board repair rather than scrap a premium machine. Either way, it’s why component-level board work is a core skill for anyone doing serious Mac repair.
Battery — noticeably higher. Battery jobs are about 7% of Apple work versus 4% overall. Mac batteries are glued-in, long-lived and then fail fairly predictably with age and swelling — and because the machines are worth keeping, owners bring them in for a battery service or MacBook repair rather than replacing the laptop.
Where PCs are different
Malware is a Windows story. This is the starkest contrast in the whole dataset. Virus and malware removal is our third-largest category overall at ~11%, but only ~3.5% of Apple jobs. The malware work is overwhelmingly Windows machines. Windows’ larger installed base makes it the bigger target, and the browser-based scams, fake “support” pop-ups and bundled junk that fill our malware queue land far more often on PCs.
Data recovery skews to PCs too. Data recovery is about 8% of all jobs but only ~4% of Apple work. A lot of that is the classic Windows laptop with a failing mechanical hard drive — the exact machine an SSD upgrade rescues. Macs moved to solid-state storage earlier, which changes their failure pattern.
A fair caveat
This is what people bring in, not a controlled study of failure rates. Local demographics matter — South West London has a lot of Mac owners — and Mac owners tend to repair rather than replace, which lifts Apple’s share of the more involved jobs. Percentages are rounded and based on how each job was logged. Even with those caveats, the pattern is strong and consistent enough to be genuinely useful.
What it means for you
- Mac owners: your biggest real risks are physical — spills and the board and battery faults that come with an ageing, well-used machine — not viruses. Protect against spills, and don’t ignore a swelling battery.
- PC owners: your biggest avoidable risks are malware and a failing hard drive. A little care with browser pop-ups and downloads, plus an SSD and a backup, heads off most of what we see.
- Everyone: screens and boot failures don’t care what badge is on the lid. Both are usually fixable.
Talk to a workshop that knows both
We work on both platforms every day from our Putney workshop (SW15) and diagnose each machine on its actual fault, not by platform. Whether it’s a spilled-on MacBook, a board-level fault or a Windows PC buried in pop-ups, we’ll give you an honest assessment first.
Call 020 7610 0500, drop in to SW15, or use the contact form. Start with MacBook repair or PC repair depending on your machine.