Liquid Damaged Macbook Pro Retina 15"

May 15, 2015 7:20 PM

I have a ~2012 Retina 15" that received some unexpected water in the vent under the LCD. The LCD no longer works (no backlight, no image), however the machine functions totally fine otherwise with a HDMI display attached. Is my best bet to sell it for parts? It seems as though a replacement logic board and installation would cost more than selling and buying a used machine.
posted by SirStan to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Best answer: Even if you don't have AppleCare (or it won't cover liquid damage), take it to an Apple store for an estimate to repair. My 2011 15" MBP had a bad main board and no insurance, but the maximum price to fix was about $350 -- well worth it, and probably about a wash if I'd paid for AppleCare the whole time. (It eventually turned out that it was a manufacturing problem that had killed my Mac, so they even gave me the $350 back, but I was plenty happy to have the machine fixed for that amount.)
posted by spacewrench at 7:58 PM on May 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Apple does flat-fee repair in two tiers: oops ($350ish, what spacewrench did) and OUCH ($700). I doused my whole MacBook Air in coffee a few weeks ago, and the only things they didn't replace were the lower aluminum lid and the hard drive. Truly, the invoice is about a foot long. Cost me $700, vs. $969 a best case scenario refurb replacement.

Go to the store and ask.
posted by good lorneing at 8:29 PM on May 15, 2015

It's dishonest, but i'd honestly take it in and say it "just stopped working and you don't know why". If the liquid damage indicator isn't tripped, you might get the $350 depot repair.

They have to mail it out though, and it'll take a few days or a week.
posted by emptythought at 12:30 AM on May 16, 2015

The $350 vs. $700 is based on the extent of the damage, not what caused it or whether you know what caused it. You can certainly take it in and shrug and say you don't know, but you'll still have to pay for the extent to which it's broken. They told me that the screen is by far the most expensive component, fwiw, and I don't have a retina display.

Take a look at the price of used and refurbs before you go in, get a quote, ask them what they would do, take the info and make a decision. None of us can really make a cost-benefit analysis for you without knowing the cost.
posted by good lorneing at 8:33 AM on May 16, 2015

Response by poster: Thanks all. I'll ship it to a friend to visit the apple store.
posted by SirStan at 8:20 PM on May 16, 2015

There are sensors on the inside of every Apple product they turn red if they have been exposed to liquid. Plus the corrosion is easy to see....

Sometimes these things are covered by your credit card company or home insurance...
posted by Mac-Expert at 8:01 AM on May 17, 2015