water damaged 2018 macbook air

Whatever you do - have it looked at by an Apple Authorized Repair Shop or better still - make an Appointment with Apple Genius Bar and have it evaluated.

Do not spend money with a local shop that purports to fix Apple Products. They are not qualified, have to tools nor the Apple Parts. Too many people with Cut Corners and run the High Risk of having an expensive paperweight

A Mac keyboard cover with a German QWERTZ layout

It's terrible about what has happened to twiggyazalea's MacBook Air, but I've now found out about something which can prevent this kind of thing from happening. There is such a thing as keyboard covers, which enable users to change the look of their keyboard, or even to change the layout as it appears. Of course, you have to change the keyboard layout in your Keyboard/Input sources as well.

I have ordered a keyboard cover, but haven't received it yet. This should be enough to solve my own water problem with raindrops coming through my skylight. It may also protect against small spillages as suffered by twiggyazalea and some other people, but the main way of doing this is by never placing drinks on the same surface as your computer!

Unfortunately, although these keyboard covers can change the language layout or preferred layout of your Mac keyboard, they can't change the physical layout of the keys. For that you need a replacement keyboard or a USB or Bluetooth keyboard. I'm surprised to discover just how many different language and regional layouts are available for the Mac. However, when it comes to the physical layout of the keys, there may be only three different layouts. These are US English, European, and Japanese. The US English keyboard layout has a rectangular Enter/Return key and the Z key is immediately to the right of the left hand SHIFT key. The European keyboard layout has a L shaped Enter/Return key and an extra key in between the left hand SHIFT key and the Z key (which isn't Z in all languages using the Latin/Roman alphabet). The (US) English International layout and the French Canadian layout also have this physical keyboard layout, or in other words "uses ISO (European) key shapes". It also seems that all Latin American countries use this layout. The Japanese keyboard layout is unique. It has a fat L shaped Enter/Return key and the two keys immediately to the left of this on two separate rows as found on ISO (European) keyboards don't exist, but the space where they are has been taken up by the fat L shaped Enter/Return key. As with the US English keyboard, there is no key in between the left hand SHIFT key and the Z key. I can't work out how many keys from the US English keyboard are missing. It could be 2 or 3.

I think I've covered all the different physical keyboard layouts built in to the Mac, apart from the separate USB or Bluetooth keyboards. You can check the links below to see if you can find more than the three I've mentioned.

https://keyshorts.com/blogs/blog/37615873-how-to-identify-macbook-keyboard-localization

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201794

The basic problems are:

1. Water and electronic parts do not mix. Ever. The parts will corrode in time and cause further damage.
2. Trusting an expensive laptop to advice from strangers on Youtube.

I would not recommend either. The only way to deal with it is to have Apple or an authorized service provider work on it or bit the bullet and buy a new one. Apple sells refurbs in the online Apple store.

P. Phillips the user twiggyazalea has already taken it to Apple, which seems to be just what you suggested in other words, but they want to charge $800 for this repair, which twiggyazalea can't afford. I can't be 100% sure of twiggyazalea's gender, so I may have to repeat the name, or just type "they" instead. This Mac is hardly working at the moment, so there's nothing to lose.

Since posting my last reply, I've heard on YouTube that there's such a thing as a sonic cleaner, which is an alternative to an Isopropyl bath. I'm worried that twiggyazalea will pay this $800, then later on move out of their parents' house into a rented home. After this, they may be in financial difficulties and fall into rent arrears. At that time, twiggyayalea would be thinking "I wish I had that $800 now!" After this, they might be evicted, then decide to go and move back in with their parents, only to find that they won't let them do that, because of being brainwashed by someone who worships money! After that, twiggyazalea might end up homeless on the streets or even die, but if they were a Linux or Windows user, or they hadn't taken your advice to pay $800 for a repair, then this wouldn't have happened.

twiggyazalea, I think your problem was probably caused by putting a drink on the same surface as your computer. This is something I was told never to do at the first computer club I went to and I never have done since then. Please follow this advice to prevent a repetition of this disaster.

BTW, at this moment I'm living in an apartment which has no external walls, so there are no windows, only skylights, or "roof windows" as the company calls them on their website. Unfortunately, the skylight in my living room is letting a lot of raindrops in. This skylight doesn't cover a large percentage of the ceiling, but getting right away from it and the raindrops is a big problem. After reading in this topic that twiggyazalea's MacBook Air has been seriously affected or even destroyed by just "half a shot glass worth of water", I'm worried that this may have the same effect on my MacBook Air. How can I overcome this problem with my skylight/roof window? I think I could buy a large plastic sheet, a ladder, and four bricks, climb up onto the roof, then place the large sheet over my skylight and secure it with the four bricks. Of course, I have no "qualifications" for doing this. One problem is that this skylight is sloping, though. I've got a funny feeling you'll tell me to do something completely different which may cost me about $800!

That is very good of you to be looking out for the unfortunate person who spilled water on an expensive piece of equipment. On that specific issue of affordability to pay for the machine etc. fell for the person and your thought.

The sole purpose of the suggestion was specific to the issue at hand - water damage and possible best route to take. Is it better to get it repaired at $$ for not have the machine at all and have to buy new. Only the owner can decide.

Thank you, but I do not have water damage and I do not need a keyboard cover. Apple does not recommend using anything like that because the laptops are so thin and there is almost np tolerance between the keyboard and the screen - which can be damaged by a cover.

Rather than ruining my expensive laptop, I would get the apartment owner/company to deal with the leaking windows.

babowa I meant to reply to the topic, not to you. Obviously, I could just remove the keyboard cover whenever I want to close my MacBook Air. 

Of course, it seems to be quite difficult to open the case of a MacBook Air, but it's much easier to open Toshiba laptops for example. I have replaced a keyboard on a Toshiba laptop. 

As for my leaking windows, I don't think these windows are suitable for fitting into a roof which is at a very slight angle. I think I saw a very similar window in the German TV series "Sløborn" (produced in 2019, released in 2020) about a deadly virus that kills 90% of people infected, making them bleed from their eyes, and the restrictions imposed to try and combat it. This window was next to a bed in a loft above a shop with a roof sloping at a large angle, about 45 degrees.  A girl was sitting in the window frame, then a group of people on probation were shouting at her and she went back inside onto her bed, then closed the window. I'm not sure which episode this was in, though. https://www.zdf.de/suche?q=Sloborn&synth=true&sender=Gesamtes+Angebot&from=&to=&attrs=&abName=ab-2021-03-22&abGroup=gruppe-c 

Anyway, my German layout keyboard cover has arrived now, so I can report that it’s very soft and thin. I don’t see how it could damage my screen, but I can easily remove it whenever I want to close my MacBook Air, so that seems to be fine. 

Tschööö! 

Obviously, it is your computer, so you can do whatever you like; we simply echo Apple’s recommendation not to use any cover since the clearance inside is too minimal to accommodate a cover.

Not sure what a TV series has to do with it or the fact that you have leaking skylights. I do not believe they would be acceptable to your Baubehörde.

Tschüs.

no magic fix. get a ipad pro using the apple card. buy a used macbook air.