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Water Spill + Mac Studio Outage

I spilled some water on my desk last evening. What I thought was a tiny amount grazed my Mac studio. I made the mistake of not immediately shutting it down after the spill, instead went about cleaning up near by. While doing this, I heard the studio's venting sounds get a bit louder, accompanied by a faint overheating smell, or something like it. Within a couple seconds of this the computer made a loud pop sound then everything shutdown/crashed. I immediately unplugged.


A few questions. What might have blown out in there and is it fixable? Is my data retrievable? Should I let it dry out, and for how long, before taking it into Apple?

iPhone 5s, iOS 10

Posted on Mar 8, 2024 5:24 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Mar 8, 2024 7:32 AM

Ouch' sounds like it sucked water into the air intake on the bottom.


The only way to determine the extent of damage, is to take it to your local Apple Store for evaluation.

4 replies

Apr 8, 2024 8:52 AM in response to Archi_99

<<. Is my data retrievable? >.


Your asking this question is very troubling.


The answer on modern SSD-based Macs is "NO, not in the slightest."


You were supposed to be making backups.


If you do not have a recent local, disk-based backup, your computer is like a ticking Time bomb. You are only one disk failure, one crazy software, or one "oops" away from losing EVERYTHING! Drives do not last forever. It is not a question of IF it will fail, only WHEN it will fail. In addition, you never know when crazy software or Pilot Error throws away far more than you intended.


If you are using another direct-to-disk backup method that you prefer, and you currently have a recent disk-based backup, that is great. If not, you should consider using Built-in Time Machine. Take steps to acquire an external drive as soon as possible. If you buy one, a drive 2 to 3 times or larger than your boot drive is preferable for long term trouble-free operation. Do not pay extra for a drive that is fast.  (You can get by for a while with a "found" smaller drive if necessary, but it will eventually become annoying).


Attach your external drive and use

System preferences > Time machine ...


... to turn on Time Machine and specify what drive to store your Backups on.  It may ask to initialize the new drive, and that is as expected.


Time machine works quietly and automatically in the background, without interrupting your regular work, and only saves the incremental changes (after the first full backup). Time machine backs up every connected drive that is in a Mac compatible format. it can not back up Windows format drives.


Time Machine's "claim to fame" is that it is the backup that gets done. It does not ruin performance of the rest of the computer while doing its backup operations. You do not have to set aside a "Special Time" when you only do backups. When you need it, your Time machine Backup is much more likely to be there.


How to use Time Machine to Backup or Restore your Mac:

Use Time Machine to back up - Apple Support




Apr 8, 2024 2:37 AM in response to lkrupp

Hi


I spilt a mug of tea on my desk and some of it was sucked into my studio M2. The computer immediately shut down and tripped my home fuse. Result was a new logic board and power supply and a claim on my home insurance. A £1,200 repair !!! The Studio, if placed directly on a desk, is very vulnerable to liquid spills as the air intake is at desk level. Needless to say, my studio now sits on a purpose made stand.


[Edited by Moderator]

Water Spill + Mac Studio Outage

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