Apple Magic Keyboard not fit for purpose, due to extreme vulnerability to water damage

[inkhorn]

I must count myself lucky then as I spilt a cup of hot coffee (on day one of ownership!) onto mine.

I just turned the keyboard upside down and pressed it on a dry cloth, giving it a few taps to try and knock any coffee out, and it's been fine for weeks now.

 

[mikethemartian]

My cat startled me last week causing me to spill a small amount of coffee on my A1243 keyboard. The coffee was in a travelers mug so not a lot came out. I dryed it up as quickly as possible but assumed there was some basic spill resistance built in. Then several days later the function keys that control audio volume stopped working. The coffee actually spilled a couple rows lower than these keys and I didn’t see any residue under the keycaps so why they were the ones effected I wasn’t clear about but one post mentioned capillary action. Or maybe the traces for the keys run downward from the key location. The funny thing is that all the videos and postings I have found about fixing the problem has people submerging the keyboard in water (sometimes distilled and sometimes tap) and then letting the keyboard dry out over several days. The keys that have failed so far aren’t important so it isn’t a big deal for me but I was surprised how sensitive to liquid it is. Coincidentally with the COVID 19 virus pandemic we are required to clean our PC keyboards at work with liquid disinfectant and the keyboards we have are just cheap PC ones but they are apparently more liquid resistant.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Interesting. I've been using Apple keyboards for 20 years (MBP, MacBook, wired aluminum keyboards, Magic Keyboards, etc), and not had any fail. I did spill coffee on my first MBP and after freaking out about it, turned it off, opened the back and flipped the keyboard over on a towel. No damage done.

Either the keyboards have gotten more susceptible to liquid or y'all are just unlucky...

But the lesson learned for me was KEEP LIQUID AWAY FROM ELECTRONICS. Period.

(Now, there ARE other issues with some models of the Apple keyboards, but for me, failure from liquid is not one of them.)

 

[tyc0746]

Coincidentally with the COVID 19 virus pandemic we are required to clean our PC keyboards at work with liquid disinfectant and the keyboards we have are just cheap PC ones but they are apparently more liquid resistant.

My old word processor works under water much better than my iMac does - but at 60 years old a bit of water/coffee/cookie doesn't seem to worry the typewriter much.

Maybe the cheaper keyboard ones have a more basic key mechanism that isn't disrupted as much by the odd spill.

 

[jukkhop]

OP's theory is now going to test, just poured a good chunk of water on my dark magic keyboard. Will let you know if it turns out DUD.

EDIT: And yes, there was a cat involved.

 

[jukkhop]

Seems like my keyboard was not damaged by the water.