PC’s associate recoiling before chief (6)
I believe the answer is:
laptop
'pc's' is the definition.
(laptop is a kind of pc)
'associate recoiling before chief' is the wordplay.
'associate' becomes 'pal' (a pal is a friend).
'recoiling' says the letters should be written in reverse.
'before' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'chief' becomes 'top' (synonyms).
'pal' reversed gives 'lap'.
'lap'+'top'='LAPTOP'
(Other definitions for laptop that I've seen before include "Small computer" , "PC" , "Kind of computer" , "Type of computer" , "Some work on this" .)