Skip to main content

Repair guides, support, and troubleshooting information for the first 13-inch MacBook Air to feature Apple's ARM-based M1 SoC (with an 8-core CPU and up to an 8-core GPU). Released in November 2020 and identified by model numbers A2337 or EMC 3598.

189 Questions View all

Water damage from underneath

I placed my MacBook Air M1 on the floor and left it for couple of hours. There was some other leakage nearby causing some water accumulation underneath the MacBook Air. MacBook was not exactly floating on the water but there was significant amount of water on the floor. I would say I might have cleared that amount of water with 3 to 5 bounty kitchen paper towels. The system is working fine, keyboard is working, sound system is working, trackpad is working and screen is working too. I tried to find online if there was any "liquid contact indicator" inside the system but couldn't find any. Also I didn't happen to encounter similar situation as mine online (water entry from underneath). My question is should I be worried?

Answer this question I have this problem too

Is this a good question?

Score 1
Add a comment

2 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

Ignorance is bliss! What you don’t know can’t hurt you.

I personally don’t agree with that! As such I would want to know!

Time to pop off the bottom cover and look for the signs of liquid damage. I haven’t worked on this series of Air yet so I can’t tell you if Apple is still using markers or not. They are round white dots which when wet turn pink/red.

Review this guide to help you get the cover off and what yours should look like when compared MacBook Air 13" Late 2020 Logic Board Replacement

Was this answer helpful?

Score 2

2 Comments:

I did open the bottom immediately to check the depth of damage. Inside everything seemed fine and unbothered. it was like there was no water contact at all.

that's why I was looking for the liquid detection markers to be 100% sure. I didn't find any markers in there.

by

@jamie56610 - Then you should be fine!

by

Add a comment

@jamie56610 After removing the bottom cover check the LCI's. These are no longer round white dots which when wet turn pink/red. They are black, and liquid contact is only visible with the use of a UV light. LCIs appear black under normal light and glow blue when highlighted with a UV light.
Use this for the location

Block Image

Block Image

and this for the how to check MacBook Air 13 Late 2020 LCI That way you can be 100% sure :-)

Was this answer helpful?

Score 1

2 Comments:

thank you so very much!

by

@jamie56610 you are welcome. You know that you were most likely lucky but it's always good to verify. Best of luck to you and welcome to iFixit.

by

Add a comment

Add your answer

Jamie will be eternally grateful.
View Statistics:

Past 24 Hours: 0

Past 7 Days: 4

Past 30 Days: 17

All Time: 58