this post was submitted on 27 Dec 2024
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Can confirm for America too—I worked there also and saw the same. There are moisture indicators inside the device that the phone owner can’t see, and if those are triggered, then it could have done microscopic damage to the internal components. If Apple fixes it and it dies a week later from water damage, the customer will blame Apple, so they choose to replace the unit when they see the indicators have been triggered.
“Missing parts” is not a likely phrase they would have ever used.
There was a scandal years ago because the moisture indicators were found to be wildly over-sensitive, and changing colour in inappropriate situations, e.g. it being a bit humid because it was raining, being in someone's pocket when their clothes were a little too warm so they sweated, or having been brought into a bathroom within a couple of hours of someone showing. Some were already showing water damage immediately after leaving the Apple Store when journalists investigated.
If the Genius Bar staff are told the water damage indicators indicate water damage, then they don't have to lie to say they can't repair a phone. If some percentage of phones have indicators that simply don't work correctly, then people will have repairs rejected when they know their phone's never been near water, so it'll look like the staff are lying.
The situation must have improved because this was headline news years ago and I've not seen it mentioned since, but even if it's a fixed problem, it still gave Apple a reputation for refusing to do repairs for nonsensical reasons.
I had water damage that messed up my Face ID camera on an iPhone X but the water indicators were not triggered. Genius Bar turned me down still because of the obvious moisture. I called Apple HQ from the parking lot and argued it’s rated IP67 and without the moisture indicators in the SIM tray and charge port being tripped it must be a warranty issue.
At the end of the call I walked back into the store and handed over my phone they gave me a new (not refurb) phone. Maybe if I’d argued and gotten the manager in the store the first time it would’ve been okay, but I just try to deal with Apple directly and honestly they’ve been the best support I’ve ever dealt with.