It isn’t unheard of for someone to get stuck in the rain, iPhone in hand, when it suddenly drops into a puddle. At first, most would find their phone seems to be working just fine, until the screen begins to flash on and off automatically. At one point in time, Apple refused to offer any break to customers who brought in phones that had been damaged by water, though because of the inevitable risk of such accidents occurring in day to day life, policies have changed slightly to accommodate iPhone customers.
This new policy states that Apple will replace water damaged iPhones for a set fee of two hundred dollars. While the replacement may be a refurbished iPhone and will always be the same version as its predecessor, it will still be in perfect working condition and will almost always cost less than repairing the original phone, whether it is done by Apple or a third party.
There is a method that Apple has developed for determining if an iPhone has been damaged by water. If you look straight down the headphone jack, a small dot will be visible. If this dot is white or silver, the phone has not come into contact with water; whereas if the dot is red or pink, water has indeed been inside the unit at some point. This new technique has ended the speculation over how much contact the phone needs to have with water before it is considered water damaged.
If your iPhone is water damaged and is an outdated version, receiving a potentially refurbished and outdated iPhone as a replacement may seem a little shabby for two hundred dollars. You can always talk to Apple to see how much the actual repairs to your particular phone would cost, or you could check in with a third party company to see what their rate would be to repair the damage.
In any case, it’s beneficial to see what one or two iPhone repair companies might charge to repair your iPhone as many of them will do a free diagnostic prior to making any repairs. Only at this point would you know if it is more cost effective to repair or replace the iPhone.
While it is a step forward in Apple’s efforts to strengthen its relationship with its iPhone customer base, the new policy regarding the replacement of water damaged iPhones should be considered only one of a few feasible options when you’re dealing with a damaged iPhone.