AppleCare+ for Water Damages worth it?

[fischersd]

How is showering worse than being completely submerged for 30 mins?

IPX7 is 1m of water for 30 mins. 1m of water has 1.4psi of pressure.

Energy efficient shower heads in the US have between 45 and 80psi of water sourced to them. My guess, there's lots of streams from the nozzles exceeding the 1.4psi of the IPX7 rating.

Feel comfortable about lathering your locks with the watch that close to the shower head?

(or in my case, shaving my head)

Nope, me neither. I'll keep mine dry, thanks.

 

[jjlannoo]

Remember the applecare+ also doubles the warranty period to two years. The IPX rating might save ya the first year without applecare+ but it won't help the second one.

 

[Julien]

Simple, if you advertise your product as IPx7 water resistant/proof, you warrant you product for water damage. All watch companies that I know of do this. Apple has no choice but to warrant the Watch since it is stated to pass a minimum of an IPx7 rating.

Also of all the problems we have seen of every type of this forum, so far water damage has not been stated as damaged. The Watch in all likelihood could be easily rated at ATM5 (see DC Rainmaker's test) but Apple chose to be conservative in rating as they have in wording.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/05/apple-watch-waterproofing.html

 

[malochico1]

I have had my watch for approx 2 weeks or so.
I go to gym 3x a week.
-played ball with it
- sit in sauna with it. Not steam room though
- swim with it 2x a week as well.
I am not a professional swimmer, I just do laps in 5 or so feet deep water at 24hour fitness.

I bought sports watch to replace my Fitbit, I will use it for my physical activities. Though I always make sure before and after just like my iPhone to inspect it properly. Make sure their aren't deep scratches or cracks etc.

Use it how you please. Everyone has way too many opinions. Everyone is a professional online.

 

[fischersd]

Simple, if you advertise your product as IPx7 water resistant/proof, you warrant you product for water damage. All watch companies that I know of do this. Apple has no choice but to warrant the Watch since it is stated to pass a minimum of an IPx7 rating.

Also of all the problems we have seen of every type of this forum, so far water damage has not been stated as damaged. The Watch in all likelihood could be easily rated at ATM5 (see DC Rainmaker's test) but Apple chose to be conservative in rating as they have in wording.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/05/apple-watch-waterproofing.html

They rate it as IPX7 as the warrantied level they support. It is only water resistant. Anyone calling it waterproof is going to find out the hard way that it isn't.

We'll find out once people start taking their watches in with water damage. Me, I won't be taking that risk until we see consistently what Apple decides to do with them.

 

[Joe HS]

They rate it as IPX7 as the warrantied level they support. It is only water resistant. Anyone calling it waterproof is going to find out the hard way that it isn't.

We'll find out once people start taking their watches in with water damage. Me, I won't be taking that risk until we see consistently what Apple decides to do with them.

Given that it has any level of water rating at all I can't see them not covering water damage as they can't know what the customer put it through - they may have had a well built watch and took it past its limits or they may have had a defective unit that failed under the circumstances it was meant to survive.
With iPhone you can pretty much just look at the indicators to see if the customer got the iPhone wet but if Apple Watch has these indicators they won't tell you anything about the customer's behaviour for certain.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Remember the applecare+ also doubles the warranty period to two years. The IPX rating might save ya the first year without applecare+ but it won't help the second one.

If you purchased it using an Amex card or equivalent (which mirrors the standard warranty in the 2nd year), you're covered for water damage for two years. If the standard warranty covers it, Amex will too.

 

[jjlannoo]

If you purchased it using an Amex card or equivalent (which mirrors the standard warranty in the 2nd year), you're covered for water damage for two years. If the standard warranty covers it, Amex will too.

Thats cool if you have a AMEX.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Thats cool if you have a AMEX.

Many major cards have extended warranty benefits, not just Amex. Amex is the easiest to deal with though.

 

[jjlannoo]

Many major cards have extended warranty benefits, not just Amex. Amex is the easiest to deal with though.

I don't believe in unsecured credit. Got rid of mine 10 plus years ago.

 

[Julien]

They rate it as IPX7 as the warrantied level they support. It is only water resistant. Anyone calling it waterproof is going to find out the hard way that it isn't.

We'll find out once people start taking their watches in with water damage. Me, I won't be taking that risk until we see consistently what Apple decides to do with them.

There is no such rating as waterproof and it is not called that anyway. Waterproof is a term bantered around by users and journalist. I just threw it in as a user.

Scenario:

Kelly buys Watch with O-ring not seated. Kelly is carful to avoid all water. Kelly gets sticky Crown and calls Apple. Kelly told to hold under running water. Water ingresses and Watch fails. Kelly is denied warranty service even though Timex, Garmin, Casio, Seiko, Polar, Swatch and..... would cover their IPx7 rated watches.

Is this the way Apple would really do?

 

[fischersd]

There is no such rating as waterproof and it is not called that anyway. Waterproof is a term bantered around by users and journalist. I just threw it in.

Scenario:

Kelly buys Watch with O-ring not seated. Kelly is carful to avoid all water. Kelly gets sticky Crown and calls Apple. Kelly told to hold under running water. Water ingresses and Watch fails. Kelly is denied warranty service even though Timex, Garmin, Casio, Seiko, Polar, Swatch and..... would cover it.

Is this the way Apple would really do?

So you conveniently didn't read where I said that would be covered, as Kelly explained what happened when she did that?

We'll see. The agreement admin folks said water ingress won't be covered by standard warranty.

Conveniently, Apple doesn't mention that in the watch warranty document. It seems their legal department loves ambiguity, when it would really help their customers decide which measures to take.

 

[Julien]

So you conveniently didn't read where I said that would be covered, as Kelly explained what happened when she did that?.....

So you are saying that you may have to fill out a questionnaire as to how you were using the Watch when it failed? All other watch companies (I know of) cover ANY water damage on a IPx7 watch with a 'no questions asked' policy.

I spent over 13 years in the jewelry industry and have dealt with may manufactures and distributers. I have never heard of any water damage claim denied on any watch that had a water rating, even a cheep Timex listed only as water resistant (no ISO rating).

I can't believe Apple will set a precedent in the industry and lower the bar below Timex.

 

[fischersd]

So you are saying that you may have to fill out a questionnaire as to how you were using the Watch when it failed? All other watch companies (I know of) cover ANY water damage on a IPx7 watch with a 'no questions asked' policy.

I spent over 13 years in the jewelry industry and have dealt with may manufactures and distributers. I have never heard of any water damage claim denied on any watch that had a water rating, even a cheep Timex listed only as water resistant (no ISO rating).

I can't believe Apple will set a precedent in the industry and lower the bar below Timex.

I think the process is going to be similar to filing a warranty claim on any other Apple product.

I think if they find evidence that you've exceeded the IPX7 rating your warranty claim will likely be denied.

 

[Julien]

....I think if they find evidence that you've exceeded the IPX7 rating your warranty claim will likely be denied.

How would this work? Unless you admit it to Apple there would be no way of determining this beyond a reasonable doubt. Once you open a watch up you CAN'T tell with certainty if the O-ring was 100% seated. I know this and have opened many 100's of watch cases. By opening the case (lifting the crystal in the Watch) the evidence is 'destroyed'.

 

[fischersd]

How would this work? Unless you admit it to Apple there would be no way of determining this beyond a reasonable doubt. Once you open a watch up you CAN'T tell with certainty if the O-ring was 100% seated. I know this and have opened many 100's of watch cases. By opening the case (lifting the crystal in the Watch) the evidence is 'destroyed'.

That would just be the seal around the lens (which, you would think a good tech would look at before popping it off). The rubber protecting the mic and speaker ports as well as the digital crown and button should still all be in place.

They could even have a pressure sensor inside. who knows? They aren't going to divulge these things, then people would find ways around them.

It says in the user guide "don't swim with it", "don't shower with it". If people choose to do these things and then Apple says "sorry, you exceeded what we told you the watch was capable of", how can they argue?

Soap residue on the inside of the watch, might also be a good giveaway.

Anywho. Enough of this. You guys want to tell people to do things that harm their watches and people get screwed, be my guest. Mine will be staying dry; maybe the occasional splash as I wash my hands or go out in the rain - what it's supposed to be exposed to.

 

[h00ligan]

Depends on the cost of the watch

Assume one incident you're oaying 35% for insurance. That's extremely high

If you got a thousand dollar watch it would be 12%

* numbers are rough not whipped up with a calculator. You get the point

I don't know if I'll get it. I need to read about scratching. At the end of two years it's nice to pay $70 and get s new watch but if it's only reselling for $200 what's the point

 

[Blackforge]

If you purchased it using an Amex card or equivalent (which mirrors the standard warranty in the 2nd year), you're covered for water damage for two years. If the standard warranty covers it, Amex will too.

Accidental damage or theft is only 90 days. At least with AMEX Blue.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Accidental damage or theft is only 90 days. At least with AMEX Blue.

Water damage won't fall under accidental damage, as the Watch is designed to be used within the scope of its IPX7 water resistant rating.

 

[fischersd]

Accidental damage or theft is only 90 days. At least with AMEX Blue.

Water damage won't fall under accidental damage, as the Watch is designed to be used within the scope of its IPX7 water resistant rating.

Keep in mind - Apple hasn’t stated that water damage will be covered by their warranty. (and people at Apple told me it wouldn’t be).

But, to avoid that debate entirely, stick to the things that IPX7 is applicable for (note, IPX7 is not inclusive of other water ratings, e.g., it doesn’t include IPX6).

Good examples can be found at these two sites:

http://www.garmin.com/en-US/legal/waterrating

http://www.gpslodge.com/archives/031142.php

 

[e²Studios]

If you purchased it using an Amex card or equivalent (which mirrors the standard warranty in the 2nd year), you're covered for water damage for two years. If the standard warranty covers it, Amex will too.

Amex only covers Accidental Damage and Theft for 90 days after purchase, it does however extend the basic warranty by 1 year. AC+ will get you Accidental Damage for 2 years.

"When you charge a covered purchase on your Card account, Purchase Protection1 can help protect your purchase for up to 90 days from the date of purchase if it is stolen or accidentally damaged. "

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/purchase-protection.html

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Amex only covers Accidental Damage and Theft for 90 days after purchase, it does however extend the basic warranty by 1 year. AC+ will get you Accidental Damage for 2 years.

"When you charge a covered purchase on your Card account, Purchase Protection1 can help protect your purchase for up to 90 days from the date of purchase if it is stolen or accidentally damaged. "

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/card-benefits/purchase-protection.html

Again, the Watch is advertised and sold with a IPX7 water resistant rating so water ingress due to a manufacturing defect is a warrantable claim. If the standard warranty covers it in the first year, Amex will also cover it in the 2nd year.

The reason water damage on all other iDevices isn't covered under the standard warranty and thus considered accidental damage is that they aren't sold as water resistant and have no such rating.