Are you worried about your dead MacBook Air? You may split water as it is the central issue. Don’t worry that we are always here to help you. MacBook water split issues may stress you up and may disturb all your routines of working. We all are human beings. These accidents are part of our lives, so instead of being worried, find the best solution.
Here we will guide you all the procedure and, most importantly, MacBook Air water damage repair cost and what parts need repair.
Water damage repair cost varies from company to company; however, Apple also provides their services, but mostly they charge more than $1000 or may not repair and tell you that the device is now irreparable. What next now?
What to do now?
As I already said, many professionals and companies are willing to provide their services even at a lower cost than Apple. So first, you need to assess your MacBook for the problem correctly. Don’t panic after seeing your dead laptop.
Many unprofessional people may offer you their service at a low repair cost but be careful they can damage your data due to lack of knowledge.
Search for the professional who has full knowledge of MacBook Air and can quickly solve your problem. Water damage is not a common issue; it may damage your data, keyboard or mouse, and many more.
Signs of Water Damage
Sometimes miracles happen, and your MacBook Air is safe after splitting of water, but as I said, SOMETIMES. Here is the list of problems you may face after water splitting to assess your MacBook Air’s water damage.
These problems did not show their signs immediately after water split; it tends to appear after some time, so you need to focus directly on the deep cleaning of your MacBook Air.
Keyboard issues:
Hers is the most probably appeared problem you face, or may the keyboard stop working.
- Keyboard system stop responding by pressing the keys
- Some particular keys may stick.
- Some keys may start motion by our single press.
- Few keys stop working after some time.
- Watermarks appear on your keyboard, and you need to repair or clean them.
Screen issues
The screen is the first part that becomes unresponsive or becomes problematic for you.
- Start blinking after seconds or minutes
- Lost the clarity of the screen
- Become blur
- If water or any liquid reaches the screen’s main point, it will not lose its connection, and the screen will not show you anything.
Body issues
MacBook Air comprises metal like copper or any other metal, but it touches the water metal and gets corrosion. Green residue starts developing inside and out of the MacBook body.
Charging port issues
The water goes inside the charging ports. It starts causing trouble for you, and you need to repair it immediately. If there is water inside the charging port, it prevents the common charging mechanism and electrical circuit.
Touchpad issues
The touchpad may not work correctly or become hung while using. The touchpad may be the last part to get damaged by the water, but it affects its speed or convenience in use. But it’s not so common.
MacBook Air Water Damage Repair Cost
Don’t worry if your laptop has the problems mentioned above. These are common issues and don’t charge that much cost. Various factors affect water damage costs.
Apple charges high repair costs because they tend to replace everything in case of water damage.
Every company charges according to their services, reputation, pricing policy, and many more. Water damage causes different issues, and they charge accordingly.
Many of them provide services at $755 for 13″ inches screen laptops and $1,250 for 15″inches screen laptops.
According to the remaining warranty, the Apple repair service also causes repair costs, like the one-year warranty. The repairing price will be different for the remaining 2 or 3 years warranty.
Here is the list of problems and their average repair cost in the market:
Water damage issue | Average repair cost |
Keyboard | $95 |
Backlight | $100 |
No power | $90 |
Logic board | $200 |
Trackpad | $150 |
Cleaning | $100 |
This list of the price depends on the severity of the damage.
Your area, model, and company taxes vary, so for your laptop repair cost. Many factors affect the repairing cost, including the technicians’ effort, the repairing material, and many more.
Sometimes, the technicians cannot repair the logic board as it’s a complicated part, so they need to call the engineers who better understand the logic board structure. MacBook provides the schematic diagram that the engineers can only understand and repairs the tiny chips attached to the logic board.
Why does the MacBook Air repair cost vary?
The same version of the MacBook Air version has a different repair cost due to the remaining warranty and damage type. The most crucial factor is the repairing machine, which is different at every repairing service, so they charge additional costs.
For example, a keyboard of MacBook Air with complicated damaging situations charges $225, and by adding their taxes would be $300 or more than it.
The keyboards are expensive on the new model, so their repair cost starts from $350 without any taxes.
These all are the average cost. Proper investigation of the laptop is required for the estimation of repair cost and its water damaging level. Some companies also add the charges of inspecting the laptop additionally other than the services they provide.
What does Mac repair services cost?
Mac repair services did not charge if your issue covers under the warranty, consumer law, or AppleCare services. If your problem is not under their warranty services, then their price range varies.
Mostly in the case of water damage, Mac repair services offer more ten $1000 or told you that now it’s irreparable. But if the damage is not as critical, they contribute to replacing the parts or whole system.
Apple repair services charge $299 for replacing the screen and $129 for the battery.
Prevention is cheaper
It is one of the policies of Mac repair services. It includes that if there is any damage to the screen, it needs to replace then you will have to pay the $348, but in case MacBook Air is under the warranty limit. And if you need to repair the second time, you will need to pay $99 extra.
There is a $300 fee for hardware repair and the hourly service charges, as it is not an easy task to repair the hardware.
So AppleCare service said that if the repair cost is more than the MacBook’s original price, do not let the damage occur. Protect your accessories and save your repair cost.
Compared to mac services, many other popular services provide you better and cheaper services. Like you can get your keyboard repair for just $39.9.
Most mac services charge more than $100 in water damage. So instead of paying as much money, they contact other companies and save your pocket.
As for mac policy, protection is cheaper and accidents will happen, but security is always better.
Effect of different types of liquid
While it looks stupid, but this is happening. Many of us think in this way that the type of liquid affects the range of damage. So let me clear you in this way that somehow it’s right.
Acidic liquids like wine can cause different issues due to acidity and make it challenging to repair. Similarly, water, tea, or coffee is not acidic, and their damage is easy to restore and rebuild.
Some liquids are sticky and sugary, causing different damage levels as they stick inside the MacBook parts and leave their residues behind.
What type of water damage occurs after the liquid split?
The liquid can easily make its way to spread on logic boards and immediately spread to all the components.
MacBook’s inner material consists of metal, silicon, and glass fiber, which starts damaging when it comes to the water content.
Sometimes the MacBook works perfectly after water damage, and then it starts causing problems or stops working.
One of the main reasons for this is that metal gets corrosion slowly after the water spill and becomes oxidized. So immediately clean your MacBook after the water split if it works at that time.
When electricity is provided to the system, it speeds up the corrosion process and causes the liquid’s speed to spread all over the board.
So if you didn’t immediately clean the system from fluid, you would have to face significant consequences.
Reason for immediate repair
As time passes, the damage becomes severe because water and metal start doing their reactions and critically damage your MacBook.
As I already said, the corrosion process continues with the touch of water. Corrosion is the slow and gradual deterioration of the metal and causes chemical reactions.
It means that when water, metal, and electricity combine, it causes the reactions and starts the rusting of the internal material of the MacBook.
So you all may know that the rusting process when it starts is difficult to stop. There is no fixed type or time after water damage to create corrosion.
Mostly it begins immediately after contact of the liquid with the system. Your MacBook did not show immediate effects of decline, but it will become dangerous for the system after a few days.
The best solution to prevent corrosion is not to turn on the system before diagnosing the damage rate. To investigate the water damage severity, call for professional services, and take the immediate steps that help you prevent your laptop.
Let me clear one thing, not all water damages are critical, but sometimes you only need to clean the water from inside the MacBook. However, in most cases, the water causes damage and diagnoses when the MacBook stops working, and you don’t have the idea because of the previous water split.
Professional MacBook Air water damage repair
It is essential to diagnose the problem first to get accurate repair services and contact the related professional services.
You cannot access the motherboard damage on your own as do not experience that. Only a professional will diagnose the problem of MacBook Air damage by the split of water.
Professionals take care of the minor damages at the spot that later on leads to significant issues. They clean the liquid professional immediately by professional training, and it prevents the corrosion.
Some professional services include the diagnosing cost separately from the repairing price. If you immediately contact the professional, they give you the best solution on the spot regarding repairing and replacing the MacBook damaged parts. So you can get further services regarding your laptop damage.
Many unprofessional people may tell you that you need to replace the screen, but it’s not required. Screen replacement after water damage is not mostly required, so you need to contact a professional to save your money and MacBook. Replacing the screen is more costly than all the repairs by water damage.
How to Prepare Your MacBook Air for Repairs?
There is no hard and fast rule you need to follow, but you need to take care of a few things. Many people or well-wishers around you offer their services or experiences for free, but you need to be careful as it is not accessible to do.
You cannot diagnose the issue, so you do not need to do anything as you may cause any other problem. Moreover, water damage is not the regular thing that anyone can repair and protect your MacBook.
In the end, you will have to contact the technician for help, and at that time, you may cause a double problem. So get the professional person, but here are the things you need to do immediately:
- First of all, switch off the power supply immediately and unplug the wire.
- Try to remove the battery but if you cannot do it, please stop it and let the professional do it.
- Try to prevent the water from the drain into speaker holes.
- Immediately remove the water from your MacBook Air and clean it from the outer side.
- Call the professional immediately or as soon as possible because your MacBook Air needs cleaning and immediate water damage services.
The most important thing you should keep in mind is that the warranty does not cover MacBook Air water damage because there is no effect of your year of buying or model on repair cost.
Warranty or customer care services did not cover these types of issues. So you need to spend money to protect your MacBook Air.
Repair costs without a warranty are always high, and water damages may need some replacement costs that cost much more than repair. So take proper care of your precious MacBook Air.
Professional procedures of MacBook water damage repair
MacBook air-water damage is the critical process that only professionals can perform and save your MacBook from losing their life.
Here we will discuss the complete process of water damage repair for MacBook, which is followed by the professional.
- Properly inspected by the technician and clean all the keyboards, touchpad screen, and, most importantly, battery.
- Then detach all the spare parts and inspect the logic board and SSD hard drive. It requires special micro soldering skills for proper inspection.
- Burned and corroded chips will be removed and replaced immediately.
- Professionals have a special ultrasonic cleaner in which they dip the logic board and then dry it in the oven for a few minutes. The unique ultrasonic solution is electrical friendly.
- After drying the logic board, a test will be conducted by placing it on the powered test bench.
- If it passes the test, then it is ready to set back in your MacBook air.
- If it does not pass this test, then a professional engineer must replace the chips on a logic board that is not visible by the naked eye.
Apple provides the logic board schematic diagram that helps the engineer understand its productivity and repair the logic board damage.
Impact of water damage on data storage
Water damage causes the worst consequences in your MacBook Air. As for your data, there is no guarantee of their protection.
Water causes damage to almost all the MacBook Air like a keypad, touchpad, hard drive, motherboard, screen, battery, and logic board.
So your data will not save until unless your MacBook has a removable hard drive.
In MacBook, Air apple tends to be the new feature of SSD hard drive, so data recovery is the most challenging water damage.
All your data directly stored in the logic board, so some MacBooks like MacBook pro have SSD chips to help data recovery. Once information is copied in the logic board and water damage, your data have gone along with its repair.
Try to save all your essential data on drives or cloud to get back nm cases of the same damage. Your data is necessary for you.
Any other person will not understand the importance of your data. In case of water damage, you will need to give up your data if it is saved in the logic board, as there is no way to recover now.
Water damage also causes many issues, like your keyboard using experience is not the same as before. One the MacBook Air passes the water damage or your repair.
Many MacBook users share their MacBook experience after water damage and repair that you don’t even feel that it’s your laptop. So, water damage leaves their residues behind that you remember whenever you use your MacBook
How do you repair MacBook Air water damage?
MacBook Air water damage repair needs a professional technician as it involves the complete disassembling of the laptop. The logic board of the damaged MacBook Air will require special attention after water damage.
Let me clear you one thing before starting the procedure that it only helps if your MacBook only has minor water damage that can be solvable with proper internal and external cleaning. In simple terms, it’s the process of cleaning after water splits.
We all are humans, and these accidents are a part of life, so do not panic in such situations. If you do not want to spend the high repair costs, you are in the right place as I will guide you step by step and make you able to detect and repair your MacBook Air by yourself.
Step 1
The first step you need to do is immediately remove the battery and clean the water. Wipe it with a dry towel and let it dry.
Step 2
After removing the battery, remove the hard drive, and carefully check the controller board from both sides of the hard drive. If it is wet, then take another dry towel and clean all the water from both sides.
Step 3
Now it is the motherboard turn which needs to remove and properly inspect all the gears and chips. Dry all the water with a towel and dry.
The keyboard and trackpad on MacBook Air are sealed, so you do not have the option to clean from the internal part. You can immediately try to drain the water after splitting, which may help you protect the keyboard and touchpad.
Step 4
Carefully examine both sides of the motherboard and power connector board (MagSafe board) for any liquid damage.
Step 5
If any sticky or surgery liquid causes water damage, you need to clean it with any particular solution. Isopropyl alcohol is the best solution for that. Use a soft toothbrush to remove sticky stains of liquid. Avoid rubbing the motherboard and dry the moisture by using a soft cloth with hot water. Carefully clean all the parts with a brush and alcohol.
Step 6
Some parts need special inspection as you do not have any idea about where the water reaches, so carefully inspect:
- Ports on the side of the motherboard
- Speakers and spaces under the speaker
- All cable connectors, but be careful.
- Memory slots and modules
Now, wait patiently until all the internal parts and motherboard are thoroughly dry. You might see some residues by the use of any cleaner, but that’s normal. For fast drying, you can use a hairdryer.
Step 7
Now it’s the time for assembling back the laptop but make sure that all parts are dry and there is no residue behind. Install Ac adaptor first to the MagSafe board, then install the motherboard.
When you connect the ac adaptor, it turns on the solid green light of the power plug and ensures that it remains on while reinstalling the process.
If you fail to turn on the LED green light, turn on, repeat the procedure of connecting the Ac adaptor and motherboard to the MagSafe board. If there is still no light, you need to call professional help for MagSafe board repair or replace the MagSafe board by buying a separate new MagSafe board.
After replacing the MagSafe board, then try again by connecting the AC adaptor and motherboard. If the LED light turns on, then you have the perfect match of MagSafe and motherboard.
Step 8
Now continue to join the laptop accessories and keep an eye on the solid green LED light, which is the indicator of perfect fitting of all the parts.
After installing the motherboard connect all features like video cable, keyboard, and all remaining accessories that you separate in the start except the hard drive.
Step 9
Now to check it, turn on the laptop by placing an AC adaptor. If the computer turns on, shows the white screen with a dialogue box, then a flashing question mark, congratulations. You did it.
Now turn off and connect the hard drive. Again, try to turn on and if it shows the standard screen, attach all the remaining cables and keep checking after connecting every cable.
If it’s not turned on, detach the keyboard and turn on with power on-pads by attaching with the motherboard.
If the laptop turns on, you need to replace the keyboard as it damages and needs professional repair or replacement. It’s better to replace the keyboard after water damage.
You can also use the USB connectable keyboard and mouse for checking. Attach all other cables and connect the keyboard with the USB connector and test now.
If all things go well with the externally attached keyboard, but the MacBook did not turn on, you need to replace the keyboard system.
My experience with MacBook water damage
I have a MacBook, and it’s a gift from my father. It’s remarkable for me, but one day accidentally water splits on my MacBook, and it was the worst day.
I don’t know what to do next, but I immediately drain out water from the laptop. However, it causes issues like some of the keys on the keyboard stop working, and sometimes the touchpad stops working.
Then I think of contacting the professional, and they told me about the consequences of being late for the water’s internal cleansing.
Then I spent $250 on its repair and proper cleaning of water, making my MacBook back to its original performance.
The primary purpose of sharing my story is that everyone has such accidents in life, which helps you learn and grow, so for this accident for me.
So, I advise you to contact the professional immediately after the water split; it helps you in significant water damages.
FAQs
No liquid damage to your mac accessories and laptops was not covered by the warranty. Most Mac services declare the irreparable in case of water damage. Now Apple launches its service (AppleCare protection plan) in which they claim that the water damage to MacBook and Apple accessories are covered, but it’s limited to one year.
It is a myth to place your water damaged MacBook in rice, and it helps in soaking the water. Many people say rice absorbs the water and the MacBook has internal damage. It’s the worst idea to place a MacBook in rice after a water split issue, and it leaves you irreparable damages then. Even I said it’s similar to putting the MacBook under running water that can go anywhere.
It depends on the amount of liquid split on the MacBook. Most damages will not appear immediately after the liquid breakup. You think water is dry, and it will be ok, but water absorbs in the parts of the MacBook, and the latter shows their results.
If minor, immediately clean and let the MacBook dry for a minimum of four hours and let it dry properly after cleaning with a soft cloth.
Final words
MacBook Air water damage is the central issue that many of us face at least once in life, so don’t worry about that. Many companies provide their professional services to help you with this problem, so choose the best accurate technician for your help. Immediately clean the water from the MacBook and plug off the power supply. It’s the first and foremost thing that you need to do and then calls for the professional. If they are not as such damage, you can follow the above-mentioned step-by-step process to help yourself.
I hope this article helps you with your problem, and you will have your MacBook Air back in the original condition.