Apple's advertising that boasted the resistance of iPhones to water was judged misleading by the Antitrust which decided a fine of 10 million euros on the apple group, which also refused to provide assistance for damaged smartphones.
The authority considered unfair commercial practices the dissemination of promotional messages of different iPhone models in which the characteristic of being water resistant was enhanced for a maximum depth varying between 4 meters and 1 meter depending on the model and up to 30 minutes.
According to the Authority, however, the messages did not clarify that this property is found only in the presence of specific conditions, for example during specific and controlled laboratory tests with the use of static and pure water, and not in the normal conditions of use of the devices by consumers.
Here is the Apple page that gives information on the resistance of the devices
The models advertised are iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11pro and iPhone 11 pro Max. For the Antitrust Authority, as stated in a note, moreover, the contextual indication of the disclaimer "The warranty does not cover damage caused by liquids", given the emphatic boast of water resistance, was deemed likely to deceive consumers by not clarifying what type of warranty it referred to (conventional warranty or legal warranty), nor was deemed capable of adequately contextualizing the conditions and limitations of the assertive claims of water resistance.
The Antitrust then deemed it appropriate to integrate an aggressive commercial practice the refusal by Apple, in the post-sales phase, to provide warranty assistance when those iPhone models were damaged due to the introduction of water or other liquids, thus hindering the exercise of the rights recognized to them by the law regarding the guarantee or by the Consumer Code.
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