Selling water damaged Macbook Air

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Level 1

6 points

Selling water damaged Macbook Air

I recently spilled water on my Macbook air. Apple store says its the logic board and will be $850 to fix. I have since bought a new Macbook and would love to sell the water damaged one. My two questions are, where do I sell it & for how much? & If someone buys it, replaces the logic board, anad gets it working again, will they be able to access all of my personal files/ pictures/ saved websites & passwords? Those are my biggest concerns 😟 Thank you in advance for your help!

MacBook Air

Posted on Jun 4, 2016 7:19 AM

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Answer 1

John Galt

Level 10

155,804 points

Jun 4, 2016 9:23 AM in response to jaclynalewis

... replaces the logic board...

That is the salient detail. The logic board contains your Mac's storage including all the personal information you describe. The short answer is yes, it is possible. Even if the logic board itself cannot be repaired for any sum of money, the flash memory modules can be removed and their contents potentially extracted, assuming they are not themselves damaged. Doing so might involve prohibitively expensive and time-consuming techniques, or it might not, depending on a number of factors you did not describe (FileVault, for one).

What it's worth is an open question. A water damaged Mac can have damage beyond the obvious, and as such is not worth very much on the used market. If you are so motivated, have Apple fix it for $850 and then sell it for perhaps $50 more. Or, surrender it to Apple for recycling. If you are concerned about its contents I recommend you do not sell it or give it away in its present condition, for the reasons stated.

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