Member Blog
@Alexandre Isaac, CEO & Founder, The Repair Academy / iFixit Pro Repair Academy
📅 Upcoming session: October 13–25, 2025 (Chattanooga, TN)
ITAD is all about optimization — maximizing value while minimizing waste. Yet in most ITAD workflows, one step still turns potential profit into loss: logic board failures. Devices with motherboard issues are often sold off to brokers for pennies or recycled entirely.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
More ITAD providers are now adding board-level repair as an internal capability — allowing them to recover value from devices they once discarded or wholesaled. We believe this should be a standard part of every modern ITAD process.
The Missed Opportunity: Logic Board Issues
Say you process a batch of 100 laptops. Even if just 10% have motherboard failures, that’s 10 units you’re likely wholesaling for $20–$50 each, or recycling for zero return. Now imagine your team could fix 7 out of those 10 internally.
Those units might suddenly sell for $200–$400 each — a five-to-ten-times recovery boost.
The same goes for iPhones (Tristar, charging IC, NAND failures), tablets, and high-value MacBooks. These are often repairable issues — if you have the right skills in-house.
What We Teach — and Who It’s For
The iFixit Pro Repair Academy is a 13-day intensive course running October 13–25, 2025, hosted at iFixit HQ in Chattanooga, TN. It’s led by some of the most respected names in the repair world: iFixit, The Art of Repair, and The Repair Academy.
We’ve trained technicians from ITAD providers, recyclers, refurbishers, and asset managers — typically small to mid-sized teams ready to build advanced repair capability internally.
Over 13 days, students learn:
- Microsoldering and microscope-based diagnosis
- Logic board structure and troubleshooting
- Repair techniques for MacBooks, iPhones, iPads, and more
- Common failure modes and how to fix them
- Safe and scalable workflow design for B2B repairs
ROI for ITAD: Do the Math
- This training isn’t a cost — it’s a margin enhancer.
- Fixing just 30 laptops at $250 resale value equals $7,500 recovered revenue — compared to about $900 in wholesale value (or $0 if recycled).
- Cost of training (tuition only): $7,900
Break-even point: roughly 32 devices. - We also offer a 12-month payment plan (from $658/month) to make budgeting easier.
Why Now
Reuse targets are rising under R2v3, CSR, and ESG frameworks. The skills gap is widening, and trained microsolderers are hard to find. Internalizing repair means fewer losses, more uptime, and better margins.
Our last session sold out — public signups open August 9, and early access ends soon.
How to Enroll
Whether you want to send one technician or a whole team, this course gives your business a competitive edge in maximizing recovery value.
Full tuition + all-inclusive option: $9,900
Tuition only: $7,900
📆 https://www.ifixit.com/ifixit-pro-repair-academy
📩 Email: alexandre.isaac@therepairacademy.com
📱 Call or WhatsApp: +1 (305) 339-8984
Let’s stop losing money on board-level failures — and start recovering full value.
