“Apple has made changes to its internal screening process pertaining to iPod liquid damage, a source told [us],” Zach Epstein reports for BGR.
“Apple builds a series of Liquid Contact Indicators (LCI) into its iPod line of devices. When these LCIs come in contact with moisture, they become activated,” Epstein reports. “Previously, the presence of an activated LCI within the headphone jack was cause enough for employees to state that an iPod may have been damaged by water or another liquid. Now, employees must first inspect the iPod for other signs of liquid damage before reaching that conclusion.”
Epstein reports, “It is currently not known if the new policy applies to iPhone models as well.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Lynn W.” for the heads up.]
This is good news. The old policy was asinine.
It seems to – a friend just had his iPhone 4 replaced despite some water related damage. He was told “everyone gets 1 water related claim” or something similar by the Genius.
It’s a shame though because my boss goes running with his 2 year old iPod and it got damaged by sweat and they would do nothing for him.
@ Steve516:
Uh, the iPod’s 2+ years old. Unless your boss bought an extended warranty, it’s WAY out of warranty anyway. Why should Apple repair or replace it?
Finally, a voice of reason finds its way into the hallowed halls of Cupertino.
Who ever created the old (and I agree, asinine) moisture policy at Apple ought to be reassigned to a busy Genius Bar for 6 months. This way when someone brings in their iPod, they can personally deal with it.
Why don’t they just make them waterproof, like watches? It shouldn’t be too difficult.
MDN Magic Word, “water”, lol
You don’t plug earphones or dock cables into waterproof watches.
It should be possible to construct a headphone jack and dock port that will not admit water to the inside. Just put a plastic barrier between the jack cavity and the inside, the connections would go through the plastic.
I dropped my iPhone 4 into a lake for 30secs, and called my credit card company which has a 90 day warranty for accidents. They started a claim and asked me to return it to the Apple Store and to pay for the $200 replacement.
When I took it to the Apple Store, the Genius opened it and said the headphone jack sensor was tripped but the internal one wasn’t, so he replaced it under warranty for free, even though I had told him what had happened and that my credit card would cover it.
He said, none of the Geniuses had yet to see an internal sensor tripped on the iPhone 4.
And, just to be complete, my iPhone 4 worked, except for the power button, so no hard resets, though I could reset it when connected to iTunes.
This is old news. This policy is actually ONLY for iPhones and has been in place for months. One LCI top or bottom of your iPhone tripped requires internal inspection of the internal phone LCI’s for confirmation of liquid damage. If both external LCI’s are tripped, the phone IS considered liquid damaged regardless of the internal LCI. Also, one external and one internal is considered liquid damaged.
Check out iCorkz.com to protect your iPhone from liquid damage. Just $9.95 then you can use your device worry free
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