Apple has been fined ten million euros ($12 million) by Italy’s antitrust authority for making misleading statements regarding the waterproofness of its iPhones.
The fine was announced on Monday by the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato (AGCM), which said Apple misled the public on two counts.
To begin, the company stated in promotional materials that various iPhone models — from the iPhone 8 to the iPhone 11 — were water resistant for up to 30 minutes at a depth of between 1 and 4 meters (3 and 13 feet), depending on the model.
This was only valid in controlled laboratory conditions of fully still and pure water, according to the AGCM, and not in real-world situations where people could drop their phones in water.
It also said that Apple’s warranty terms were deceptive because they were nullified if the phone was harmed by liquids. According to the report, Apple failed to fix water-damaged iPhones.
