Dumb friends spilled alcohol on MacBook Air

Happy birthday, beepcontinue! 🥳

I am so sorry to learn about your misfortune, however; if you ignore the problem, then the internal corrosion will cause more damage, especially if the battery is involved.

I recommend service.

Service Checklist:

• Mac service pricing.
• Check AppleCare Coverage.
• Get your Mac ready for service.

Click ▶︎ Start a Service Request. ⚛️

Need more help?

• Call 1-800-APLCARE.
• Contact Support.
• Mac Support.
• Mac User Guide.

Click ▶︎ Check Repair Status. 🔧

Good luck! 👋🏼😉

In case your MacBook should have sustained damage and you need a screen replacement (e.g.) while not having an active Apple Care+ subscription, $100 for repairs could be a minor underestimation, unfortunately.

my take would be to check for an Apple Care+ subscription as mentioned, and most importantly wait a day or two as sometimes, the device “recovers” by itself.

True. Please make sure to follow the guidance of Smilin-Brian, providing help with scheduling a repair at Apple/Authorized Service provider, to make sure the MacBooks inner components will not be further damaged before reaching Apple.

beepcontinue wrote:

TLDR; broke college student spilled alcohol on her very important computer. Send help, and a free repairman possibly :,(

Sorry, but that is not a very likely outcome. A MacBook Air, running macOS Monterey, could be anywhere from a 2015-2020 model. As such, it would be out of warranty, and even if you had an AppleCare+ plan with it, it would be expired ... unless you elected to continue it on a month-to-month basis.

I can certainly understand the issue. I had a new (at the time) 2020 MacBook Pro. Water was accidently spilled on it and the result was that it required a complete replacement of its logic board, display, and keyboard. Even with an AppleCare+ plan, it still cost me around $100 to get it fixed. Without that plan, it pretty much would have cost almost as much as its original price.

Alcohol, especially mixed with other things, can leave conductive residue that can further damage your laptop if you continue to use it. As the others have mentioned, it needs to be inspected by an Apple Technician. That inspection will be at no cost, but any needed repairs will come with a potentially high price tag. Hopefully your friends will be willing to pony up to help you out.

TLDR; broke college student spilled alcohol on her very important computer. Send help, and a free repairman possibly :,(

Remember that Apple will not see your situation in this user-to-user forum.