Apple Relaxes Water Damage Restrictions for iPhone Trade-Ins

MacRumors · Nov 18, 2013

Beginning this week, in-store iPhone trade-in value will no longer be affected by the phone's Liquid Contact Indicators, reports 9to5Mac. According to Apple retail employees, iPhones that have activated Liquid Contact Indicators will be accepted for trade-in and the damage will not have a negative impact on trade-in value.

Though tripped sensors will not impact value, Apple will continue to refuse devices that have been noticeably damaged by water. Only phones that have had their sensors activated by slight amounts of moisture or humidity can be traded in. In the past, Apple's indicator tape has been proven to be triggered by humid conditions, which ultimately resulted in a lawsuit against the company.

This week's changes to the program, however, will allow more customers to trade in their devices. However, the company isn't going to start allowing seriously water-damaged phones for trade-in anytime soon. If there is evidence of liquid under the phone's display or corrosion in the ports, the phone will still be ineligible for any trade-in value regardless of what the liquid contact indicator looks like.

When Apple's trade-in program launched back in August, the company did not accept phones that had any kind of water damage. The new policy on Liquid Contact Indicators will apply both in the United States and the U.K., where the program launched in October.

Apple's in-store Reuse and Recycling program provides users with a gift card that can be used towards the purchase of a new on-contract phone. Trade-in values are based on model, capacity, and other criteria such as physical condition.

Article Link: Apple Relaxes Water Damage Restrictions for iPhone Trade-Ins

XboxMySocks · Nov 18, 2013

Time to send my iPhone 5 through the wash and send it in

iSamW · Nov 18, 2013

Klae17 · Nov 18, 2013

Wait I thought iOS 7 was waterproof?

jonyive4 · Nov 18, 2013

well..I guess it's just...*sunglasses on* water under the bridge.
YYYYYYEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!

ThunderSkunk · Nov 18, 2013

Instead of spending time and money on moisture sensors and ticked off customers, Apple could just spend the $ producing phones with waterproof coatings and have another selling point and happier customers.

XboxMySocks · Nov 18, 2013

ThunderSkunk said:
Instead of spending time and money on moisture sensors and ticked off customers, Apple could just spend the $ treating phones with waterproof coatings, and have another selling point and happier customers.

This just opens them up to litigation, and it doesn't work magically.

aristobrat · Nov 18, 2013

So water damage is OK for trade-in, but not OK for warranty repair at the Genius Bar. This is going to be fun!

9000 · Nov 18, 2013

Can I kill an iMac that's covered by AppleCare warranty then get a replacement? The problem is that my mom's iMac's hard drive has failed twice within 6 months, and the computer has been having other weird problems like Mavericks not installing properly, but Apple refuses to offer a replacement. I think the hard drive is on its way to death once again. They'll keep fixing the individual problems on that lemon until it's out of warranty.

benji888 · Nov 18, 2013

Klae17 said:
Wait I thought iOS 7 was waterproof?

water-resistant ...iOS 7.1 will be waterproof ;O)

yeah · Nov 18, 2013

benji888 said:
water-resistant ...iOS 7.1 will be waterproof ;O)

But if Safari isn't snappier..

Android, here I come!

/s

OrangeSVTguy · Nov 18, 2013

9000 said:
Can I kill an iMac that's covered by AppleCare warranty then get a replacement? The problem is that my mom's iMac's hard drive has failed twice within 6 months, and the computer has been having other weird problems like Mavericks not installing properly, but Apple refuses to offer a replacement. I think the hard drive is on its way to death once again. They'll keep fixing the individual problems on that lemon until it's out of warranty.

3 fixes should be able to get you a replacement. Request it.

Arran · Nov 18, 2013

XboxMySocks said:
Time to send my iPhone 5 through the wash and send it in

Yep, they always say you should scrub it of all personal data.

9000 · Nov 18, 2013

OrangeSVTguy said:
3 fixes should be able to get you a replacement. Request it.

It's only been 2 so far. It's showing more signs of failure. If it breaks a third time, I hope it happens soon.

designgeek · Nov 18, 2013

ThunderSkunk said:
Instead of spending time and money on moisture sensors and ticked off customers, Apple could just spend the $ producing phones with waterproof coatings and have another selling point and happier customers.

Amen. It's 2013, why are these things still so fragile?

ChrisA · Nov 18, 2013

ThunderSkunk said:
Instead of spending time and money on moisture sensors and ticked off customers, Apple could just spend the $ producing phones with waterproof coatings and have another selling point and happier customers.

You are right. I know of people who refuse to buy a phone because they are so easy damaged by water.

Did any of you see the Sony ad where their tablet is working with the display on inside an aquarium. Sony can do it. Apple can't.

There are some simply ways to make a phone or tablet water proof. One way is to dip the circuits parts in some kind of plastic and they have some god and thin materials for this now. But the big thing is that others are already doing this.

I wonder if their upcoming iWatch will be water resistant? If you have to take the watch off to wash your hands it is the 100% certain FAIL.

unplugme71 · Nov 18, 2013

I remember when I had my iPhone 3GS that needed warranty repair. They said it was voided bc of moisture. Luckily, one of the specialist looked at my phone before booking my appointment said there was none with my phone.

Apparently the compressed air they used to clean my phone activated the strips.

Now I make sure they look at my phone before doing anything else.

mohdamerul · Nov 18, 2013

I thought there's an app for that?

MacLC · Nov 18, 2013

9000 said:
Can I kill an iMac that's covered by AppleCare warranty then get a replacement? The problem is that my mom's iMac's hard drive has failed twice within 6 months, and the computer has been having other weird problems like Mavericks not installing properly, but Apple refuses to offer a replacement. I think the hard drive is on its way to death once again. They'll keep fixing the individual problems on that lemon until it's out of warranty.

If it's still under warranty you may want to consider...

sigh

... Apple Care which I normally don't recommend. That way if it really is a lemon you can get it replaced. Apple builds a case history for each computer and if you hit enough cases and you are friendly enough, they will eventually just trade out your machine.

tmanto02 · Nov 18, 2013

ChrisA said:
You are right. I know of people who refuse to buy a phone because they are so easy damaged by water.

Did any of you see the Sony ad where their tablet is working with the display on inside an aquarium. Sony can do it. Apple can't.

There are some simply ways to make a phone or tablet water proof. One way is to dip the circuits parts in some kind of plastic and they have some god and thin materials for this now. But the big thing is that others are already doing this.

I wonder if their upcoming iWatch will be water resistant? If you have to take the watch off to wash your hands it is the 100% certain FAIL.

The Xperia z is supposed to be waterproof, however they have done an average job at it. I work in an electrical retailer and have already had heaps of Xperia Zs returned with water damage. If it were the iPhone it would be all over the news. I think waterproofing still needs to mature.

SBlue1 · Nov 19, 2013

ThunderSkunk said:
Instead of spending time and money on moisture sensors and ticked off customers, Apple could just spend the $ producing phones with waterproof coatings and have another selling point and happier customers.

The iPhone 4s is waterproof! My wifes phone fell into a bucket full of water and she needed a second or two to get it out. This was half a year ago. No problems what so ever besides the water sensor dot shining red.

I just guess Apple doesn't want to show this off as a feature cause a lot of people would try do misuse it by making underwater photos at the beach or in the pool.

wikiverse · Nov 19, 2013

XboxMySocks said:
Time to send my iPhone 5 through the wash and send it in

I used to have a cheap samsung flip phone. It was about $200 outright to purchase.

It went through the wash (in my jeans) 3 times, got dropped down at least 10 flights of wooden stairs and dropped in a cup of coffee.

I used it for 5 years. It still works and has a battery life of at least two days.

The military should be using that phone.

True story.

/nostalgia

Gjwilly · Nov 19, 2013

This only makes sense because the mail-in trade-in program already accepted water-damaged phones.
That was the one reason I went with them this time.
I didn't want to wait for Gazelle or somebody to turn me down or low-ball me after checking the sensors.

Nikiaf · Nov 19, 2013

The geniuses are still very anal about checking the sensors though. I remember bringing in my old iPhone 4 to the genius bar because the microphone stopped working during calls, and before the guy would even attempt to look into the problem, he had to very carefully check all the water sensors.

benji888 · Nov 19, 2013

designgeek said:
Amen. It's 2013, why are these things still so fragile?

I agree about adding waterproofing, but

The reason smartphones are fragile is because it is still a developing technology that has to keep getting better, faster. Unlike car electronics that absolutely have to be able to handle extreme temperatures and such, not being the best or fastest is the trde-off.

Anyone recall the G5 tower that had the first/fastest 2.5GHz top-end model that had to be liquid cooled because it ran so hot (2004)?

Apple Relaxes Water Damage Restrictions for iPhone Trade-Ins

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