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Staingate repair: is liquid "damage" a problem?

T

tubeexperience

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 17, 2016
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I brought a MacBook Pro with serious staingate problem in for repair today.

Apple has on record that the laptop has been previously brought in with liquid damage and "customer declined repair".

I don't even know why people would bring their laptops to Apple if they spilled something on their laptops.

Anyway, Apple ran Mac Resource Inspector and the laptop passed so the laptop is sent to depot repair. (Battery cycle count is 2000+ o_O)

Is there a problem?
 
Ha, no I was talking about the liquid damage, which may or may not turn out to be a problem. Were you asking whether it being sent off means there's a problem beyond the screen "stains"? Don't think so.
 
Sanpete said:
Ha, no I was talking about the liquid damage, which may or may not turn out to be a problem. Were you asking whether it being sent off means there's a problem beyond the screen "stains"? Don't think so.
Click to expand...

Oh, the laptop is fine.

I was asking if there's a problem with the display replacement for staingate issue.
 
tubeexperience said:
I brought a MacBook Pro with serious staingate problem in for repair today.

Apple has on record that the laptop has been previously brought in with liquid damage and "customer declined repair".

I don't even know why people would bring their laptops to Apple if they spilled something on their laptops.

Anyway, Apple ran Mac Resource Inspector and the laptop passed so the laptop is sent to depot repair. (Battery cycle count is 2000+ o_O)

Is there a problem?
Click to expand...
I'd say 4 scenarios are possible from most probable to least probable:
1. they will replace display without saying anything regarding liquid damage if it works overall - like 89% probability IMHO,
2. they will call you back before doing anything and say something like "the laptop is liquid damaged, we're OK to replace the display for free but we also have to fix the liquid damage before that and you will have to pay X$ for that, do you agree?" - 6%,
3. they will fix liquid damage and replace display for free no questions asked - 4%,
4. they will reject replacing the display due to staingate as other matters may have been the cause - 1%.
 
I just got my laptop back from Apple.

Even though it wasn't mentioned anywhere, Apple appeared to have replaced the logic board because the laptop now has a different serial number and has AppleCare which it didn't before.
 
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I notice a small ding that I never noticed before.

It's hardly noticeable, so maybe I just wasn't paying attention.

Since I now have AppleCare, can I get it fix for free?
 
Hmm...
Apple would burn the old serial number to the replacement logic board, so the system would see the same serial number.
Maybe Apple burned the wrong serial number, and now there are two rMBPros with the same serial number. I've not ever heard of that happening, but the serial number is entered manually in the app that burns the number. Could be ... )
Or, maybe Apple simply gave you the wrong bottom cover (which has the serial number engraved.)
Does your System Information agree with the serial number on the bottom cover?
Is that where you see the small dent?

Is that your 2013 rMBP that you list on your post?
How long does the Apple support site say that you would still have AppleCare?
 
DeltaMac said:
Hmm...
Apple would burn the old serial number to the replacement logic board, so the system would see the same serial number.
Maybe Apple burned the wrong serial number, and now there are two rMBPros with the same serial number. I've not ever heard of that happening, but the serial number is entered manually in the app that burns the number. Could be ... )
Or, maybe Apple simply gave you the wrong bottom cover (which has the serial number engraved.)
Does your System Information agree with the serial number on the bottom cover?
Is that where you see the small dent?

Is that your 2013 rMBP that you list on your post?
How long does the Apple support site say that you would still have AppleCare?
Click to expand...

I actually had two 2013 rMBP.

First one had issue with the dGPU (repaired under the Repair Extension Program)

Second one [this one] I had purchased more recently and had liquid spilled.

__________________________________________________________________

Anyway, I noticed that the "new" logic board uses a (long and thin) PCIe SSD while the "old" logic board uses a (short and fat) SATA SSD.

The serial number from the bottom cover and the logic board matched.

The dent is actually near the MagSafe port.
 
interesting.
Sounds like you got an upgrade to a late 2013 logic board (which use the PCI-e SSD), instead of early 2013 (using SATA flash storage).
Very nice! I never heard that the newer boards could get swapped in. The repair center must have been out of stock on the earlier boards.
[doublepost=1493179246][/doublepost]But, the thinner SSD boards don't appear until the Early 2015 MBPros.
What is your Model Identifier now, as shown in the System Information/hardware tab?
It will be something like MacBookPro10,1
 
DeltaMac said:
interesting.
Sounds like you got an upgrade to a late 2013 logic board (which use the PCI-e SSD), instead of early 2013 (using SATA flash storage).
Very nice! I never heard that the newer boards could get swapped in. The repair center must have been out of stock on the earlier boards.
[doublepost=1493179246][/doublepost]But, the thinner SSD boards don't appear until the Early 2015 MBPros.
What is your Model Identifier now, as shown in the System Information/hardware tab?
It will be something like MacBookPro10,1
Click to expand...

MacBookPro11,3

I am not sure that I am thrill about this upgrade though because the JetDrive 725 cannot be used in it.
 
Last edited:
Still interesting.
Did you have that Jetdrive installed in THIS MBPro before you sent it off for repair?
If not, and you had purchased that to install after the repair, maybe you just missed that it was a Late 2013, which is not hugely different from the Early 2013.
If the Jetdrive is a 1TB, and you like the extra storage, you COULD use the external enclosure that came with that.
That won't quite give you the speed of an internal install, but still will be good performance through USB 3.0

You might note the the wifi card is 802.11ac, where the early 2013 is still 802.11n.
The 11,3 logic board potentially gives you faster thunderbolt, too. (Thought I would point that out :D )
 
DeltaMac said:
Still interesting.
Did you have that Jetdrive installed in THIS MBPro before you sent it off for repair?
If not, and you had purchased that to install after the repair, maybe you just missed that it was a Late 2013, which is not hugely different from the Early 2013.
If the Jetdrive is a 1TB, and you like the extra storage, you COULD use the external enclosure that came with that.
That won't quite give you the speed of an internal install, but still will be good performance through USB 3.0

You might note the the wifi card is 802.11ac, where the early 2013 is still 802.11n.
The 11,3 logic board potentially gives you faster thunderbolt, too. (Thought I would point that out :D )
Click to expand...

Yes, I did.

This laptop does not appear to be the same laptop as the one I've sent in.
 
If that is true, then someone else - - has your laptop
This gets more interesting all the time... (in a weird way :) )
You apparently got a newer MBPro than the one you sent off.

Nice trade, I suppose.
I wonder what the other owner - the one who received yours, will do now?
As both MBPros were recently serviced, AppleCare may be able to sort it all out, as they would be able to discover the owner by the serial number from the unit that you received. If the other owner (who may or may not have even noticed) calls Apple first, then you might wait to see what you hear from Apple (if anything)

I'm not sure what I would do, but I think you have decided that laptop does not belong to you...
 
DeltaMac said:
If that is true, then someone else - - has your laptop
This gets more interesting all the time... (in a weird way :) )
You apparently got a newer MBPro than the one you sent off.

Nice trade, I suppose.
I wonder what the other owner - the one who received yours, will do now?
As both MBPros were recently serviced, AppleCare may be able to sort it all out, as they would be able to discover the owner by the serial number from the unit that you received. If the other owner (who may or may not have even noticed) calls Apple first, then you might wait to see what you hear from Apple (if anything)

I'm not sure what I would do, but I think you have decided that laptop does not belong to you...
Click to expand...

Apple decided that I need a much deserved free upgrade. :p

I am not worry because I didn't have anything on the SSD.
 
Last edited:
I also wonder if the "other" guy declined repair when the service center called about the charge for repairing (your) laptop with liquid damage.
(Maybe I think too much :D )
 
tubeexperience said:
I brought a MacBook Pro with serious staingate problem in for repair today.

Apple has on record that the laptop has been previously brought in with liquid damage and "customer declined repair".

I don't even know why people would bring their laptops to Apple if they spilled something on their laptops.

Anyway, Apple ran Mac Resource Inspector and the laptop passed so the laptop is sent to depot repair. (Battery cycle count is 2000+ o_O)

Is there a problem?
Click to expand...
Did they replace the screen even though it was out of warranty?
I ask because I have a late 2013 15" that has the antireflective coating delamination problem but it is out of warranty. I was wondering if they would still replace it without charging me since it was a widespread problem.
 
Pretty sure that repair notice for the screen problem is still in force.
And, Apple should replace, if it is a known issue. But, they also have to verify the issue that you have.
Take it in, have a "genius" take a look at it.
 
I set up an appointment for tomorrow. The issue is very obvious, 1-1.5" flaking all around the the screen.
 
Fancuku said:
Did they replace the screen even though it was out of warranty?
I ask because I have a late 2013 15" that has the antireflective coating delamination problem but it is out of warranty. I was wondering if they would still replace it without charging me since it was a widespread problem.
Click to expand...

There's a repair quality program.

You get the repair so as long as your laptop exhibit the problem.

Warranty has nothing to do with it.
 
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