Italy on Monday fined Apple 10 million euros for two "misleading and aggressive" business practices.
The decision refers to the manufacturer's announcements in which it was emphasized, "with great emphasis", that several of its mobile phones were waterproof.
According to the transalpine antitrust authority, the company maintained that its devices could be submerged in water to a maximum depth of between one and four meters, depending on the model, and up to 30 minutes.
But it was not specified that this operation was only guaranteed in a test environment.
"The advertising did not make it clear that this property can only be found in specific conditions, for example, during controlled laboratory tests with the use of static and pure water, and not in normal conditions of use of the devices by consumers", clarifies the Authority for the Defense of Competition and the Market (AGCM, for its acronym in Italian).
The misleading advertising corresponds to apple models from 2017 to 2019: iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 pro and iPhone 11 pro Max.
The AGCM highlights in its provision that the company advertised the water resistance of its devices both in televised advertisements and on its website.
In addition, it points out that the manufacturer detailed in the warranty of the phones - and even in an advertisement - that damage caused by liquids was not covered, but that this warning was less visible than the main advertising message, in addition to being contradictory to it. .
Therefore, the Italian authority concludes that “it could mislead consumers”, since it did not “adequately contextualize the conditions and limitations” of the water resistance of the devices.
On the other hand, the AGCM has described in the 45-page sentence as "aggressive commercial practice" Apple's refusal to provide after-sales warranty service for these iPhone models when they had been damaged by submerging in water.