What to do with a MacBook with water damage?

What to do with a MacBook with water damage?

The accident of all accidents has occurred - liquid damage to your MacBook. What next? This guide will help you potentially save your MacBook, or point you in the direction of a quality repair.

Do not put it in rice. The corrosion caused by liquid damage can be instant  and rice often ends up inside your MacBook. Additionally, rice leaves behind a residue made up of sugars and starches. According to CPR Cell Phone Repair’s expert technician, Jacob Braden, “The sugars and starches left behind by rice speed up the corrosion within the device. Additional corrosion means additional damage to your device.”

Here’s a video of real time corrosion on a MacBook to demonstrate real-time corrosion.

Step 1: If connected to a power source, safely disconnect your laptop. Is there water on the plug socket? Flip the breaker switch, if you have access, and plug out. Do not worry about this if your MacBook was running off its battery.

Step 2: Move the laptop to a dry area and remove as much of the visible liquid as you can  as fast as you can. Whether your MacBook is covered in wine, or you have to jump into a play pool. Resting it on absorbent material is also a good idea - whether towels or kitchen roll. Use a microfiber towel on your MacBook screen to avoid damage.

Step 3: Turn your MacBook off immediately. It’s imperative that you do this ASAP. If there is a removable battery then take it out.

Step 4: Do. Not. Turn. On. If you only heed one bit of advice in this guide this is the most important. A common mistake is to turn a MacBook on an hour or two later, be surprised that its working, only to be just as shocked as it rapidly dies. Do not turn your laptop on for 48 hours. However, it is advisable that you get to a specialist in Apple repairs for the best possible outcome.

Step 5: Take the MacBook to a professional. As technology journalist Dave Johnson recommended to Business Insider: ‘consider getting it professionally serviced as quickly as possible. Pros… can get it cleaned and dried more thoroughly than you can with makeshift at-home tools and techniques.’