[Yontsey]

Spilt a full beer on my MBP last night. I have no hope but it still has power. It has the Touch Bar and the esc key is still lit up. I can’t power it down by force. When this happened last night I immediately turned it upside down and got compressed air and blew it. If I plug in the power cord, it chimes like it’s charging. Any advice or should I just start planning the burial?

[PB PM]

Good chance that it’s toast, nothing like sticky liquids to kill your gear. Do you have an external monitor you can hook it to, so you can check if it’s just a dead display and keyboard? It’s

[Yontsey]

Yeah I was going to try that. Not sure if I have a USB-C adapter for it.

Might replace it with an iPad Pro. Might wait for the next updates though. I have a new iPad Mini I got a couple months back that will get me by in the meantime.

[kscherer]

NO!! STOP!!

Do not turn it on. If you want any hope at all, leave it off.

You might check with a local, non-Apple repair shop. Where I work we have a liquid-spill service and can clean most stuff so long as the board is not totally shot. We avoid "shooting" the board by turning it off. Power is the killer.

The water will evaporate out and leave behind the solids which will corrode the leads.

Contact a shop and see if they do something similar.

Also, do you have AppleCare+ on it? What model/year?

If no one local wants to attempt it, you could send it to me and we could have a look at it. But you've got to leave it turned off, or the problem will only get worse. It may be salvageable and it may not.

[Yontsey]

Problem is, I can’t turn it off. No matter if I hold the power button, or any of the force power options, I can’t get it off.

[Yontsey]

It’s a 13” 2.4ghz quad i5. 16gb RAM. It still has Applecare+ until October. Would they even cover something like that though?

[kscherer]

Gotcha. Try Control+Command+Power

If that doesn't work, the power button is likely shorted. Take it off the power adapter and just let it go until the battery dies.

Only way to force it off is to disconnect the battery. That will happen in one of two ways: Take it apart, or run the battery down.

[Yontsey]

Haven’t had it plugged in. Just tried it once to see if it would chime. I tried the power+control+command to no avail. My plan was to just let it go until it died then who knows.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by Yontsey It’s a 13” 2.4ghz quad i5. 16gb RAM. It still has Applecare+ until October. Would they even cover something like that though?

YES!! Forget everything else that I said.

** IMPORTANT ** Do NOT tinker! Get it in sooner rather than later. Sounds like you can get along without it, but get 'er done!

Probably a $99 deductible, maybe $299, depending on the level of damage. I see most liquid damage repairs going for $99 with AppleCare+; $500+ without it. Any Apple Authorized Service shop can take care of that (Apple, a Premier Partner, BestBuy, etc. Go to Apple or a Premier Partner; BestBuy is your last resort). The computer will likely be in shop for 2-4 days or so, depending on their workload and parts availability. You'll wind up with an entirely new keyboard, battery, and logic board — most likely — and possibly even a new display if there's any damage to that. The more parts that have to be replaced, the more likely it will be $299. Either way, gonna be worth it.

You're in luck, and that's why you buy AppleCare!

[Yontsey]

Praise be! I totally didn’t think I had AppleCare+ on it until I looked up the device on the Apple Store app. I looked up the policy and looks like they cover 2 accidentally damaged per year INCLUDING liquid damage.

Sometimes I outsmart myself.

[Matsu]

Yeah. Keep it off and contact a repair shop. Online I’ve seen complex electronics mostly cameras and lenses that have taken a bath in salt water get cleaned up and restored to working order so long as nothing got shorted.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by Yontsey Praise be! I totally didn’t think I had AppleCare+ on it until I looked up the device on the Apple Store app. I looked up the policy and looks like they cover 2 accidentally damaged per year INCLUDING liquid damage. Sometimes I outsmart myself.

Cool, Yontsey! You got this.

[Yontsey]

I got something…..that’s for sure. Thanks for all the advice. Happy I will save some $$$.

[kscherer]

You're welcome, and let us know how it turns out.

[Matsu]

Ooh I cross posted with you. AppleCare seems like good value here.

[Yontsey]

Made an appt for Wednesday at 630 at the local Apple store. With the amount of damage I wonder if they’d just swap it out with a refurb?

[drewprops]

Oh wow, I just saw this. ::subscribe::


...

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by Yontsey Made an appt for Wednesday at 630 at the local Apple store. With the amount of damage I wonder if they’d just swap it out with a refurb?

Depends. Sometimes we see a customer get back an entirely "new" system ($299) and sometimes just the bottom case and the guts inside it attached to your old display ($99). Whatever is broke is gonna get replaced, and you are going to pay something for it.

[Yontsey]

Went to the Apple Store today and they opened my MBP and it made a sticky sound and they just laughed. Smelt it and goes “ipa? Nice”.

Costs $299 but they’re just sending me a new one of the same model. Mailing it to my office which is nice.

Also are going to hook me up as a business account. Bonus.

[drewprops]

WOW.

I am vaguely jealous (considering my faulty logic board model experience)

This is a great resolution.

...

[Yontsey]

The were great. The guy asks:
1. Do you have AppleCare?
2. Do you know your Apple login?
3. Do you use Time Machine?

Yes, yes, yes.

He said you’re my customer of the day. He was like ya this thing is dead so they won’t even inspect it. Should get you a new one in 3-5 days.

[kieran]

THat's a solid outcome there.

I've heard that these types of outcomes (pure replacement rather than repair) are most of the time tied to your account history and such. Like, if you have purchased a lot of products and use a lot, etc.. Not sure how sure that is, but it would make sense to take that into consideration. A long time purchaser of Apple products will most likely continue to buy and evangelize the products with an outcome like that, but some people may leave the ecosystem entirely with a sour experience.

[PB PM]

Originally Posted by kieran THat's a solid outcome there. I've heard that these types of outcomes (pure replacement rather than repair) are most of the time tied to your account history and such. Like, if you have purchased a lot of products and use a lot, etc.. Not sure how sure that is, but it would make sense to take that into consideration. A long time purchaser of Apple products will most likely continue to buy and evangelize the products with an outcome like that, but some people may leave the ecosystem entirely with a sour experience.

That has been my experience as well, with getting things repaired, even after Applecare ran out. It just makes sense from a business perspective, a happy long term customer is worth keeping happy.

[Yontsey]

Dropped off my MBP at the Apple Store Wednesday evening, and got it back yesterday morning. Amazing turn around.

Didn't have anything crazy on it before and pretty much everything was in iCloud so I just did a fresh setup instead of from my Time Machine.

[drewprops]

Originally Posted by Yontsey Dropped off my MBP at the Apple Store Wednesday evening, and got it back yesterday morning. Amazing turn around. Didn't have anything crazy on it before and pretty much everything was in iCloud so I just did a fresh setup instead of from my Time Machine.

That's terrific! Glad you're back on track.

You gonna celebrate with a beer?



...

[Yontsey]

😂

Had a couple last night!

[kscherer]

What'd it cost you? $99 or $299?

[psmith2.0]

Apple - I spoke with a Doug, who pulled all the strings - replaced my power supply and some other things on a long-out-of-warranty/Applecare 20" aluminum iMac years ago (iMac would randomly shut down, screen go black, flicker, refuse to boot on occasion, etc.). They certainly didn't have to. I was only trying to get some sort of answer on what the repairs cost would be at my local authorized repair place (at the time, MacAuthority...they're now Simply Mac, out at the mall) and, next thing I know, I'm getting an email from Apple and told "we got this, don't worry about it".

I nearly fainted.

I emailed Doug back and sang his/Apple's praises for a paragraph or two. Still have the emails, just to remind myself that good people/companies still exist, and go above-and-beyond what they have to. As much as I may rag on them and some of their post-Steve decisions/designs, they've absolutely taken care of me on the three times I truly needed it. It's a two-way street. Goodness knows I've thrown them at least 25-30 (maybe more?) iPhone and Mac customers they never would've had otherwise, so it's a nice arrangement. We've both benefitted, these past 20+ years. They're probably out about $1,300 total on me, while I've sent probably $20K or more their way. A drop in the bucket, for sure. But $20K+ is $20K+...that didn't go to Dell or Android/Google.

It's awesome that they're so cool about stuff, even when you spill a beer on it. I realize you're out $299, but, last I checked, that's a lot less than $1,999+.

[Yontsey]

Originally Posted by kscherer What'd it cost you? $99 or $299?

$299. Better than a new unit or a new iPad.

[kscherer]

Originally Posted by Yontsey $299. Better than a new unit or a new iPad.

Yeah. That means you got a "new" computer pretty much across the board. APP+ was $249 on that system, + $299 for the repair, so $550 replaced your computer, and you still have more AppleCare left on it. You can use it twice in a year, so be sure to spill another beer on it before October.