How long it is reasonable to expect the iPhone water resistance to last?

dustintodd wrote:

So, in other words, it's a scam. If you sell a car, you run a commercial of it driving in the rain, but it doesn't drive in the rain. That's called fraud. If Apple cannot assure a minimum level of performance, they need to stop claiming otherwise. All those apple events IPhone presentations always talk about the water-resistance rating. While the lawyers may approve the language for avoiding liability. Consumers are not going to forget. I bought a $1,000 phone less than a year ago, it was in the rain for 5 minutes, never submerged, and the screen is now dead. Prior two phones died similar deaths (never submerged), granted those phones were a bit older. Unforgivable for Pro Max to get toasted in under 1 year. They should change the language to say assure a minimum level of performance both in the rating and time that should be good for. If it's only after light handling under 3 months, they should say that. They certainly have the data. Not going to convince me this is not a scam.

Product Feedback - Apple

dustintodd wrote:

Um yes - but to claim water resistance, shouldn't there be some minimum expected level of performance? I feel they are saying - brand new out of the box, we are providing some level of resistance. But no assurance beyond that. Should it still be expected to work after 3 months of typical use? 6 months? 1 year? In the last 2 instances, both devices were just over a year old.

They're upfront about it, the same as any other product that claims water resistance. It's designed to a certain standard when new and samples have been tested to meet that standard. That's it. Like I said, even diver watches don't come with any guarantee. They also have no idea what the conditions will be.

What Apple uses are pressure-sensitive adhesive seals, which are basically polymer gaskets with tape-like adhesive. I'm pretty sure that it's like tape that's been subjected to heat, humidity, lack of humidity, flexing, etc. This is the same as any other electronic device manufacturer. The seals eventually degrade.

These are the adhesive seals for an iPhone 13. They aren't perfect, but more often than not they should keep water out.

There are no guarantees, even new. Apple doesn’t recommend getting any device wet. This isn't any different than other “water resistant” items. Even mega-expensive diver watches don’t come with any guarantee that they’ll survive in a swimming pool.

dustintodd wrote:

I feel like advertising water resistance without setting out some expected performance parameters is confusing at best. At its worst, it encourages users to use their phones in a manner that could lead to water damage. I am confident with the number of devices in the field, Apple has some actual performance data they should be sharing. Based on just my experiences. It feels as if Apple has done an excellent job telling us only 1/2 the story.

It's like anything else where one needs to read the fine print. Like the SUV commercial showing a vehicle going quickly through a rocky road where the wheels constantly lift off the ground and it looks tough. Only there's a disclaimer that it was on a closed course and that real damage can occur as a result. Where they never told anyone that that 15 seconds of airtime required 10 vehicles and each and every one had to be towed off the course because of various damage.

The water resistance rating is a backstop and not a guarantee, the same as any divers watch. It's similar to body armor. I've heard of guarantees by some body armor makers that they will replace units that save someone's life, but they don't make an actual guarantee against loss of life.

About splash, water, and dust resistance of iPhone 7 and later - Apple Support

Just because you don't understand what water resistant means, does not mean it is a scam.

If Apple claimed they were water proof, you would have a point.

Since they don't, you have no valid point.