So you have just spilled water on MacBook whether due to carelessness or accidentally. In any case, we bet that you are terrified right now because of damaging such an expensive device. What should you do now and are there any chances of recovery? Should you take it to the closest service point right away or is there anything you personally could do about it? Probably, these and many other questions are crossing your mind at this point. Well, luckily for you, we have prepared a clear guide for the case of such an emergency. Read this article to learn how to deal with water damage.
What Kind Of Damage Should You Expect?
You may be surprised, but spilled liquid (no matter if it’s water, coffee, tea, or anything else) is one of the most common reasons why people bring their MacBooks to a service point. In most cases, the repair of such damage is possible. However, it greatly depends on the user’s actions after the trouble has happened.
Note that in most cases the liquid gets into the MacBook due to inaccurate handling. Thus, it is always a good idea to keep liquids as far from your device as possible, as in this case, the risk of damage is minimal. Most often, liquids are spilled either on the laptop keyboard or on its body and openings.
Of course, there are more complex cases. However, in this article, we are not going to talk about the cases when the MacBook was literally bathed in water because in such situations, as a rule, the probability of successful recovery is extremely small.
If you were lucky, the liquid would only spill only on the keyboard keys. This situation isn’t too bad and shouldn’t cause much damage as Apple’s keyboards are airtight, so they are supposed to be protected from water. If that’s the case, you are quite safe, and the worst thing that can happen is the need to replace either the keyboard itself, which is not too bad, or the top case of the laptop.
If the amount of liquid spilled on your laptop was too much, the situation gets worse. In this case, you can expect more damage.
If The Trouble Happens: A Few Steps You Have To Take
- Power Off
No matter what kind of liquid you spilled and how much of it was there, you have to power off the device immediately to prevent further damage to the system.
- Don’t Power It Back On
Probably, you will be super curious whether it still works or not, but DO NEVER turn a device back on!
- Open And Turn It Over
Next, you need to remove the liquid from your laptop. Open your MacBook and then turn it over (so that its keyboard and screen would face down) to let the water flow down. This action will also protect some pricey parts of your device not letting the liquid get inside.
- Don’t Use Rice
Yes, we all have heard those “life hacks” that state how putting a device that was damaged by water into a bowl with rice can save the situation. This is a bad idea actually. Of course, rice will absorb the water, but will it help you much? No, it will only make it harder to clean your laptop on later stages!
- Let It Dry
Let your laptop rest for 24 hours until the water dries.
- Turn It On
After the water is all gone, you should power your device on and see how it works. Test all the main features to define how much damage was caused.
- Find A Repair Company
You are lucky if everything works just fine. However, let’s face the truth – in most cases, water damage requires some repair, so you should find a service point near you.