Spilled tea on MBA 2018 - How much to fix?

[hipnetic]

My wife just texted me to tell me that she knocked over her tea (iced tea, I think) and she made it sound like she spilled a *lot* of it onto her MacBook Air 2018. I told her to flip it over and power it down, and we'll have to wait to see if it even powers up later.

Assuming it's broken (either now, or sometime in the future), what would we be looking at to pay Apple to repair? I'm not sure if we have active AppleCare on it, in case that makes any difference for damage like this. If so, and you know the cost difference if we do have AppleCare vs if we don't, that would be appreciated.

 

[chscag]

You would need to have Apple Care Plus which includes accidental damage less a deductible. This is what Apple says about that coverage:

"AppleCare+ for Mac extends your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other damage, plus applicable tax."

If you do not have that coverage, the entire cost of repair from the liquid spill damage would be your responsibility. Probably going to be expensive. Apple stores are closed thru April - early May, but there are authorized Apple Repair service providers which remain open.

 

[617660]

Exactly $999.

https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/macbook-air

 

[hipnetic]

Haha, yeah, that's sort of what I'm bracing myself for...a brand new 2020 MBA for my wife. 😭

 

[Ed Caldera]

Haha, yeah, that's sort of what I'm bracing myself for...a brand new 2020 MBA for my wife. 😭

Are you sure the the spill was accidental LOL

 

[Audit13]

Do not turn it on until you have had a chance to remove, inspect, and clean the affected areas with pure isopropyl alcohol. This is especially important if the drink had sugar.

 

[lambertjohn]

That computer is toast, I'm sorry to say. And even if you get it running again, it will never be the same. You're probably going to have to buy a new one, unfortunately.

 

[hipnetic]

OK, so it was unsweetened green tea that she spilled, so there should be no sugar.

After leaving it turned off and upside down for a while, we turned it on last night and everything *except* the speakers appear to be working OK for now. There is no audio coming out of the speakers. Plugging in headphones or using Bluetooth headphones works fine. I tried plugging in and unplugging repeatedly some headphones to see if perhaps some tea got into the headphone port, caused something to get sticky in there, and hoped that what I was doing might un-sticky it. No luck.

So here's my next question...according to the Apple site, her 2018 MBA 8GB 256GB model is currently valued as a $560 trade-in. Anyone have any idea as to whether they're likely to detect the issues and give me nothing (or less) than this price when I actually ship it to them and they inspect it?

 

[chscag]

So here's my next question...according to the Apple site, her 2018 MBA 8GB 256GB model is currently valued as a $560 trade-in. Anyone have any idea as to whether they're likely to detect the issues and give me nothing (or less) than this price when I actually ship it to them and they inspect it?

If they inspect it and detect spill damage, they'll send it back to you. Having said that, I don't know if they do a detailed inspection on trade ins. I can only relate to my own experience trading in an older model iPad for a newer one.

 

[Audit13]

OK, so it was unsweetened green tea that she spilled, so there should be no sugar.

After leaving it turned off and upside down for a while, we turned it on last night and everything *except* the speakers appear to be working OK for now. There is no audio coming out of the speakers. Plugging in headphones or using Bluetooth headphones works fine. I tried plugging in and unplugging repeatedly some headphones to see if perhaps some tea got into the headphone port, caused something to get sticky in there, and hoped that what I was doing might un-sticky it. No luck.

So here's my next question...according to the Apple site, her 2018 MBA 8GB 256GB model is currently valued as a $560 trade-in. Anyone have any idea as to whether they're likely to detect the issues and give me nothing (or less) than this price when I actually ship it to them and they inspect it?

I would not turn it on until you inspect the interior and all boards. It's possible that there is liquid inside and supplying power may cause further damage.

As the liquid dries, it can leave behind residue which slowly starts to affect the internal connections and components.

 

[hipnetic]

Interesting development: the speaker started working again. I'm still planning to go ahead and order the new model from Apple and will trade this one in.