Repair Question: Is this actually a corroded logic board, and who could replace just the Battery + Top Case without touching the logic board?

[thomasdangit]

My MacBook Pro (14", M1, 2021) on AppleCare One has a battery health below 80% (it's at around 75%) so I brought it in to the Apple Store Genius Bar for a repair that should have been free. I also have some sticky key caps on the MacBook Pro that, despite being swapped out by a Genius previously, are still giving me trouble.

I was told the free AppleCare battery replacement for MacBook Pro would include the top case, as all MacBook Pro models have a battery and top case assembly that is unable to be repaired separately. (He said all the M-series MacBook Airs have their batteries replaced separately from the top case, but not the Pros.)

Fast forward 2 days and the Genius Bar calls me sending me the picture below stating there is evidence of corrosion on the logic board. I certainly haven't spilled anything on it (promise), but I did live in a tropical and very humid SE Asia country for a while and I mean, it looks pretty undeniably like corrosion. However, my MacBook Pro has been working fine for the past 4 years since 2021, and I left SE Asia in 2022 and haven't been back since.

My question is, why can't Apple's Geniuses just fix the battery and top case, leave the logic board alone, and call it a day? If Apple can't do it, would you recommend going somewhere else to do this procedure, or would the corroded logic board eventually rear its ugly head?

I would understand if, for instance, they found corrosion/water damage on a component they're fixing (battery, keyboard, trackpad) but the logic board is totally separate. I told the Genius that I'm 100% OK if they just fix the top case + battery as promised and leave the logic board alone and I'll take my chances. But they denied and said they either do zero repairs at all or they fix the entire thing for $299 + tax on AppleCare (which yeah, isn't a huge price but I'm a student so I'd rather not shell out that much when I had budgeted for a free repair).

Just wanting to better understand the reasoning/logic behind this! Thank you!

Image Apple's Geniuses sent to me of the logic board:

 

[Nada Ting]

I knew a man who needed a hip replacement. During the routine tests before the surgery it was discovered he had lung cancer. The surgeons would not repair the hip until the cancer was removed.
In your case, there's no point to replacing the battery when the logic board is likely to fail. Think it through.
BTW, the man never got his hip replacement.

 

[thomasdangit]

I knew a man who needed a hip replacement. During the routine tests before the surgery it was discovered he had lung cancer. The surgeons would not repair the hip until the cancer was removed.
In your case, there's no point to replacing the battery when the logic board is likely to fail. Think it through.
BTW, the man never got his hip replacement.

Thanks for weighing in. I have zero experience with electronics and just don't know what this means. I'm guessing the image they sent me is pretty severe, huh?

 

[JPack]

The reason is Apple provides a 90 day warranty on all repairs.

If the logic board fails within that period, you could bring it back and claim they botched the repair on the top case, resulting in a logic board failure. Apple would be liable for that secondary repair. Apple's policy doesn't allow the customer to pinky swear they won't come back and blame Apple. So Apple requires you to make repairs to any obvious damage before they do any work.