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Comment by cameldrv | Hacker News Reader

IMO it's dirty pool for Apple to advertise their products as waterproof (IP68) and then even if a drop of water gets on the external case, they will refuse to honor the warranty, even if the water has nothing to do with the problem.

They don't even want to perform out of warranty, paid repairs if any of the liquid sensors are tripped. A few years back I had an MBP that the battery had worn out on, but several years before, I had spilled some water on the keyboard. The computer was none the worse for wear -- I dried it out quickly and it was fine, but when the battery wore out and I wanted it replaced, they wanted me to pay $1500 for a new motherboard before they would be willing to replace the battery.

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To add another anecdote, Apple refused to honor the warranty on an AirPod Pro with sweat-related damage. Nevermind that it's supposed to be "sweat and water resistant", they seem to treat any kind of liquid damage as user error anyway. Luckily it was from Costco, so I just returned it and switched to Shockz.

>even if a drop of water gets on the external case, they will refuse to honor the warranty

This is both not true and so hyperbolic it's ridiculous. IP68 is only colloquially "waterproof" as none of the IP ratings have an indefinite exposure time.

There are liquid sensors in the ports, and if a drop of water gets on them, they will turn red and Apple will refuse to honor your warranty. Apple claims the iPhone is waterproof to 6 meters for 30 minutes, but if you put your phone in one inch of water for one second, your warranty is void.

This is categorically untrue. What you’re mistaking is the difference between the exterior port powering down to prevent corrosion and the tags they use to tell when the device is no longer waterproof (e.g. because the seals have failed or there’s a crack).

I know this because we’ve used our iPhone 11s for years in the pool, bath, etc. and never had an issue on a warranty status or battery replacement. They do check that for battery repairs because of the safety issues but you won’t get it for any use which doesn’t result in water inside the case.

This is not true. I fully submerged my phone in a pool and took video underwater and they replaced it under warranty.

> I fully submerged my phone in a pool and took video underwater

Is that on Youtube or similar? :)

Replaced it for what damage/failure ?

My iPhone (SE, 2nd gen) is used with reckless abandon in the bath and shower. I’ve dropped it in a river, even. (Very lucky it didn’t sink before I could grab it.)

I have had the battery replaced under warranty without issue.

That’s not really relevant. OP said they would deny any warranty work if there was even a drop of water on the outside. I’m proving that hyperbole isn’t true.

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