Our friends from the polish website Moje Jabłuszko ran an experiment we should have carried out to earlier to support our previous reports on the poor reliability of the liquid contact indicators installed by Apple in almost all its products, but especially the iPhone. If order to demonstrate that their test were unbiased, they recorded them:
They performed 3 different tests to challenge the LCI:
- They installed the iPhone in a chamber in which the humidity would range from 50 to 60% at room temperature for 20 minutes. LCI remained white.
- They then pushed the humidity level to 80-90% at room temperature for 20 minutes. Again LCI remained white.
Those are conditions defined by Apple as the standard:
Environmental requirements
- Operating temperature: 32° to 95° F (0° to 35° C)
- Non operating temperature: -4° to 113° F (-20° to 45° C)
- Relative humidity: 5% to 95% non condensing
- Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet (3000 m)
They then decided to mimic a regular usage of the iPhone, meaning you go outside where it could be cold or warm, them move inside in a building where temperature might be dramatically different, but still within covered conditions. So, they placed the iPhone IN ITS ENCLOSURE 1 hour outside at -11° C, then moved it inside at room temperature for 24 hours. They repeated the experiment 3 times, and after the third cycle they could show that the LCI located in the audio jack plug started turning red!
This is a clear proof that LCI are NOT reliable and could turn red while the iPhone has been used under the defined environmental requirements defined by Apple. Here, only the condensing water could have been in contact with the sensor. In other words, even moving in and out during regular winter time will make you iPhone LCI turning red! This is a clear proof that can be used by customers who have been rejected for repair of their iPhone by Apple due to some redish or pinkish LCI... It could be correct to refuse a device under warranty if ALL LCI are red, but rejecting an iPhone for repair due to a reddish LCI in the audio jack plug is obviously not correct. Customers have now weapons to fight with Apple and potential ammunition for a legal action if an agreement can not be found.
