Apple sued again over iPhone water resistance claims and warranty issues - Android

The suit claims that Apple has misrepresented how water-resistant their iPhones actually is in its marketing materials.

Just like most smartphone brands, Apple adds a water-resistant rating (i.e., IP67) on the iPhones’ specs sheet. As new iPhone models come out, the resistance rating increases. In fact.

In fact, we’ve seen one report where an iPhone 11 retrieved on a lake still working after six months.

However, the lawsuit filed on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last Saturday claims that Apple is exaggerating how water-resistant iPhones actually are.

The suit is listed as a “class action complaint” with Antoinette Smith as the plaintiff on behalf of “all others similarly situated”. The 13-page suit targets Apple’s references to water resistance.

In an example given, Apple is said to be marketing the iPhone 7 to have an IP67 rating, which should provide water protection of 1 meter for up to 30 minutes.

The rating was upgraded to IP68 for the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, which increases the water depth to 4 meters, while the iPhone 12 series further improves that to 6-meters.

iPhone 11 Pro

However, the suit says that these are “insufficiently qualified by fine print disclaimers”. Apparently, the rating was based on lab tests that use pure and static water — which is apparently different from the real-world scenarios where users may accidentally drop their iPhones on sea or pool water.

The suit highlights that, because of this, iPhones that are accidentally dropped on the pool or ocean will be denied of warranty coverage. In fact, the Apple warranty apparently doesn’t cover damage caused by liquids completely, which a service center can check via the liquid contact indicator in the hardware.

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Apparently, Smith, the plaintiff, who’s from Bronx County, had her iPhone 8 in contact with water “consistent with the IP rating of her device and consistent with how the water-resistant attributes were presented in the marketing and advertising of the device.”.

This isn’t the first time Apple has faced a similar lawsuit. Back in 2020, Apple was asked to pay a USD12 million fine over the same issue.

Via: Apple Insider

This article, Apple sued again over iPhone water resistance claims and warranty issues, was originally published at NoypiGeeks | Philippines Technology News, Reviews and How to's.