MacBook Pro 14 A2992 after an extreme cola spill

A MacBook Pro A2992 after an extreme cola spill — saved.

The damage to the board was severe. A hole burnt through near the trackpad connector on the PPBUS_AON line meant drilling into the board down to the 9th layer to get rid of the short.

What was done:

• Rebuilding 6 traces on the 3rd layer of the board.
• Bypassing one damaged trace on the 5th layer (the IDP_TOUCH_INT_CONN_L line) and safely routing it through a via to the other side of the board.
• Soldering in a brand-new trackpad connector.
• Replacing shorted and damaged chips and the corroded small components around them.
• The display showed a distorted image. The repair meant carefully cutting the delicate panel out of the display housing without damaging it. Under the bottom bezel, the corroded components were found and removed. Afterwards the panel was glued back in place to factory standard.

Another MacBook got a second life instead of ending up in the bin. This is what the hours under a microscope are for 🛠️

More about MacBook logic board repair.