I spilled water on my MacBook Pro keyboard and immediately dried it and turned it off and left it upside down with tissue on the keyboard
I turned it on and it’s asking me to reinstall the operating system. What are the odds this laptop is dead? 😭
MacBook Pro (M3, 2023)
Hard to say for sure, but it doesn't sound good. You should have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop. If any water made it past the keyboard, then more than likely the Logic Board has been damaged.
FYI, you don't mention the exact model of your laptop.....usually it is useful information to provide. You can get this information by entering the system serial number on the check coverage page here if the computer does not boot:
Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support
Also, it may not actually be asking you to reinstall macOS if you are booting to the macOS installer's utility screen. It just means that the internal boot drive/volume was not found so it is booting to the online macOS installer so that you can attempt to repair the file system. However, in this case I am concerned that the internal SSD is no longer working as a result of the water damage.
Water damage is the worst kind because it does not usually leave a residue trail like other liquid spills. So it can be hard to determine which internal items may have been affected by the water since it may take a while for corrosion to form sufficiently to cause a problem. Liquid has an uncanny way of avoiding the Apple liquid sensor detectors.
If you have an Intel laptop, then I doubt it is worth repairing since even the 2020 model is now at least three years old. Much better to put the repair money towards a new laptop.
I hope you have a good backup.
Hard to say for sure, but it doesn't sound good. You should have Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider examine the laptop. If any water made it past the keyboard, then more than likely the Logic Board has been damaged.
FYI, you don't mention the exact model of your laptop.....usually it is useful information to provide. You can get this information by entering the system serial number on the check coverage page here if the computer does not boot:
Check Your Service and Support Coverage - Apple Support
Also, it may not actually be asking you to reinstall macOS if you are booting to the macOS installer's utility screen. It just means that the internal boot drive/volume was not found so it is booting to the online macOS installer so that you can attempt to repair the file system. However, in this case I am concerned that the internal SSD is no longer working as a result of the water damage.
Water damage is the worst kind because it does not usually leave a residue trail like other liquid spills. So it can be hard to determine which internal items may have been affected by the water since it may take a while for corrosion to form sufficiently to cause a problem. Liquid has an uncanny way of avoiding the Apple liquid sensor detectors.
If you have an Intel laptop, then I doubt it is worth repairing since even the 2020 model is now at least three years old. Much better to put the repair money towards a new laptop.
I hope you have a good backup.
Water spill on MacBook Pro now asking to reinstall OS
