Apple fined in Italy for misleading consumers over waterproof iPhones
- by Joann Nelson
- in Sci-tech
- — Dec 3, 2020
Criticising Apple for not clarifying its water resistance claims, the AGCM said the claims were true only under certain circumstances. According to a press release by the AGSM, Apple said that the iPhones are water resistant for up to 30 minutes at a depth of up to 4 meters. It is said that Apple failed to fix iPhones under warranty that had been damaged by water.
Ingress Protection (IP) standards, can only be certified under laboratory conditions anyway, however manufacturers are given a fair bit of room to determine their own testing methodologies.
Italy's antitrust regulator, AGCM, on Monday, said it would fine Apple 10 million euros (12 million dollars) for misleading claims about the waterproof qualities of its iPhone products.
In this case, the Italian regulator actually quite deservedly called out Apple for something that's always been a mystery to most iPhone owners - the fact that despite claiming IP68 water resistance, Apple will not service an iPhone under warranty if there's been any evidence of water damage.
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Earlier in 2018, Italy's anti-trust authority had fined Apple and Samsung for alleged throttling of older devices.
"The guarantee does not cover damage caused by liquids, given the emphatic advertising boast of water resistance, was deemed suitable to deceive consumers by not clarifying which type of guarantee it referred to (conventional guarantee or legal guarantee), nor was it deemed capable of adequately contextualizing the conditions and limitations of the assertive claims of water resistance", the regulated noted. Apple however provides a list of suggestions on what to do if their phone gets wet - even if something spills on it - and how to mitigate any possible damage.
Apple had yet to respond to a request for comment at the time of writing.
This discrepancy - claiming water-resistance but not covering water damage under warranty - is one of the issues the Italian competition watchdog takes issue with.
