Turn the MacBook off and do not press on the screen. Water that gets behind the glass cannot be wiped off or dried out. If cloudy patches or streaks stay, the screen has to be replaced.
What should I do right now?
Do these four things in order.
- Hold the power button until the screen goes black.
- Pull out the charger and anything else that is plugged in.
- Wipe the outside dry. Do not press or rub the screen.
- Leave it off and book it in.
What does water under the screen look like?
These four signs showed up in the job below.
- A cloudy patch, which started in the bottom corner.
- Pale streaks running up the screen.
- Some parts of the screen brighter than others.
- Flickering when the brightness is changed.
The marks are easiest to see on a white or light grey page.
Will it dry out on its own?
It did not in the job below. The cloudy patch showed up a few hours after the spill. By the next morning it had spread up the screen. A MacBook screen is made of thin layers sealed together, and water that gets between them stays there.
Is the fault in the screen or the logic board?
There is a simple test. Plug the MacBook into another monitor or a TV. If the picture there is steady and clean, the fault is in the MacBook’s own screen. If it flickers there too, the logic board may be at fault. The logic board is the main circuit board that runs the Mac.
In the job below, the picture on a second monitor was steady. That showed the logic board was fine and the screen was the problem.
What does a real screen repair look like?
This is a job I did on a MacBook Pro from Lane Cove.
| Model | MacBook Pro 16-inch M1 Pro (A2485, 2021) |
| What happened | A large glass of tap water was knocked over on a desk. About 250 ml spilt, and a lot of it reached the bottom of the open screen and the keyboard. |
| What the owner did | Wiped it dry and kept working, because it seemed fine. It came in about two days later. |
| What went wrong | A cloudy patch, then pale streaks and uneven brightness. The screen flickered when the brightness was changed. |
| What I found | Water marks under the glass. A little corrosion on the plug where the screen joins the logic board. The logic board itself was fine. |
| What I did | Cleaned the screen plug on the logic board. Fitted a new screen. Lined up the hinges and cleaned the inside of the case. |
| Result | A clear, even picture with no flicker. The files were all still there. |
| Time | 3 working days |
| Cost | $895 |
Corrosion is damage that works like rust on tiny metal parts.
Why did the whole screen have to be replaced?
The water was inside the sealed layers of the screen. Cleaning the outside of the glass does not reach it, and pulling the layers apart would damage them. On a MacBook the glass, the screen and its light come as one part, so the whole part is replaced.
Why clean the plug as well?
The plug that joins the screen to the logic board had started to corrode. If it had been left, the new screen could have picked up the same faults.
What does it cost to fix?
This job cost $895 in total. No $150 was added on top, because the owner went ahead. I charge $150 to open, clean and check a wet MacBook, and that comes off the repair if You go ahead. Screen prices depend on the model, and You get the price before any work starts.
Apple charges A$429 for liquid damage if You have AppleCare+. Without it, Apple gives a price only after it has looked at the Mac.
What should I not do?
- Do not press on the cloudy patch.
- Do not use a hair dryer or heater. Apple says not to use heat.
- Do not keep using it because it seems fine. In the job above, the marks showed up hours later.
When should I get help?
Get help the same day if You can. In the job above the logic board was still fine after two days, which kept the repair to the screen alone.
For other Mac repairs in the area, see Mac repair Lane Cove. See prices and more real repairs on the MacBook water damage repair page.
Give me a call or send a few photos of what happened … happy to have a look!!