Apple fined by Italian watchdog for false water resistance claims

Cupertino based giant Apple has been fined €10 million ($12M) for its alleged misleading or unfair claims about its iPhone being water resistant. Apple has been found guilty of two things by an Italian based antitrust authority named L’Autorita Garante della Concorrenza e del Merato. It is a competition watchdog and make sure that the companies in the market treat the consumers and the competitors fairly.

The first allegation that has been made on Apple mentions that the company has claimed its iPhone to be water resistant without making it clear the consumers if it was actually true in only an ideal laboratory conditions. The watchdog added that the phone did not pass the same test in actual or real-life conditions. The Apple devices including the iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone XS Max, iPhone XS and the iPhone 8 models are all said to be water resistant up to maximum depth between 4 meters and 1 meter depending on the model for up to 30 minutes.

The second allegation is more serious than the first one and said that Apple has made the water resistant claims in its marketing campaigns but has refused to give a warranty service on the devices that suffer damage from water. The watchdog has said that it is inappropriate on the part of the company to refuse the service for the iPhone models that were damaged by water or other liquids. The Italian watchdog added that by doing this, Apple is depriving the consumers of the rights.

The iPhones are fitted with internal indicators that show that there has been water ingress in the device. Apple policy mentions that it will deny warranty repair or a replacement when the indicator gets activated. This has clearly indicated that when the buyer buys the phone they are told something else and when they need after sales service they are told something else. Apple has been fined and is also ordered to publish a notice on its Italian website through the Consumer protection information link

Photo Credits: Apple insider