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{A1989 / EMC3214}—Released in July 2018, the 13" MacBook Pro features quad-core i5 and i7 processors and Intel Iris Plus integrated graphics.

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How do I fix a damaged keyboard backlight?

I have a Macbook Pro 13” Touch Bar 2018, A1989 (2.3 GHz Intel Core i5). A while back, I stupidly left a glass of water out next to my open laptop, went to bed, and woke up to my laptop sitting in a small puddle of water thanks to my cat. It wouldn’t turn on so I brought it into the Apple store, and after finding out how much Apple charges for a repair on water damage, I decided to open it up and fix it myself. To my surprise, all I found was a small amount of corrosion below and to the right of the Intel JHL7540 Thunderbolt 3 Controller (near the USB-C ports on the right side of the logicboard). I cleaned it off using a Q-tip and some 99% rubbing alcohol and to my surprise it actually started up again. After a SMC reboot, everything seems to work perfectly fine except for the those USB-C ports (which I haven’t tried yet due to fear of damaging something) and the keyboard backlight. I have tired every quick troubleshoot I could find online with no luck, and am thinking there may be some more corrosion on the underside of the logicboard near the keyboard. Does anyone have experience replacing or fixing the keyboard backlight who could help me?

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Fixing your backlight will involve fixing your logic board as the circuit which controls the LED’s in your keyboard.

Time to find someone with the needed micro-soldering skills, tools and access to the parts.

Where are you located? Country and nearest city, maybe we can aim you to someone.

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2 Comments:

Hi Dan, thank you for your input. I was afraid it might come down to that. I’m located in the U.S. in Indianapolis, IN. Do you know of any good places I could take it to?

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@mulletmatt - Sorry we don't have any listing in the iFixit listing.

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Matt will be eternally grateful.
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