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Water spill on Macbook Pro

Hello,


I accidentally spilled a little bit of water around the trackpad area. I believe that the water went into the computer through the crack. I tried to take out the water by using dry paper and sticking it in there.


I went to the Apple store and had them run a diagnostic test on it. They said it was fine. I also had a technician look at it. He said he couldn't see any corrosion from the outside. However, he said he wasn't sure about the inside parts, because he couldn't take all the parts out.


It's working fine right now. Should I just keep using it?


Thank you

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.2

Posted on Mar 29, 2022 3:54 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 29, 2022 5:40 PM

The damage has been done already. Corrosion begins in as little as a minute as any circuit with power will react with the liquid and begin to form corrosion. However, it may take some time before you see the damage show up since the corrosion will eat away at the solder connections and metal pins. It may take days or weeks and depending on the exact model laptop, a tech won't be able to see some areas as those items are not normally removed. At this point you may as well wait & see, although if you have any critical work where you cannot be without a laptop, then maybe plan for a more thorough inspection before you cannot be without the laptop. Keep in mind Apple does not consider the Trackpad removable although it it is on the USB-C models, so an Apple Store (and many AASPs) are unlikely to remove it to check.


Definitely have frequent & regular backups since the SSD is integrated onto the Logic Board of most USB-C Macs with no way of retrieving data if the Logic Board and ports are not functional.


You should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data.

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2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Mar 29, 2022 5:40 PM in response to su0531

The damage has been done already. Corrosion begins in as little as a minute as any circuit with power will react with the liquid and begin to form corrosion. However, it may take some time before you see the damage show up since the corrosion will eat away at the solder connections and metal pins. It may take days or weeks and depending on the exact model laptop, a tech won't be able to see some areas as those items are not normally removed. At this point you may as well wait & see, although if you have any critical work where you cannot be without a laptop, then maybe plan for a more thorough inspection before you cannot be without the laptop. Keep in mind Apple does not consider the Trackpad removable although it it is on the USB-C models, so an Apple Store (and many AASPs) are unlikely to remove it to check.


Definitely have frequent & regular backups since the SSD is integrated onto the Logic Board of most USB-C Macs with no way of retrieving data if the Logic Board and ports are not functional.


You should always have frequent and regular backups of your computer and all external media (including the cloud) which contains important & unique data.

Mar 29, 2022 6:01 PM in response to su0531

It's working fine right now. Should I just keep using it?


Yes.


Back up your Mac as a matter of course. To learn how to use Time Machine please read Back up your files with Time Machine on Mac - Apple Support. If your Mac stops working due to water damage or any other reason, the information on it (depending on the particular model) could be rendered permanently and irretrievably gone.


Don't be this guy: Where is the SSD hard drive located in a MacBook Air 2019 - Apple Community

Water spill on Macbook Pro

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