Dropped your phone in water? Do this next!

Power it off

You want to prevent the internal motherboard and components from being active while the liquid is inside the device. As water is conductive, this will likely lead to short circuits. Short-circuiting is the cause of most long-term damage. If the device remains powered on or the display is active after the liquid contact, it is best to power it down right away. Don’t power it back up to see if it’s still working as it might power on and then shut down and never turn on again.

Don’t put it in rice

Although this is popular advice making the rounds online, we’ve found putting your phone in a bag of rice has little to no effect in removing water or preventing corrosion. Dry it out as much as you can (give it a good shake), put it somewhere warm like your hot water cupboard and bring it to a professional ASAP for treatment.

An important note

Water tends to get into every nook and cranny within the iPhone, and often the device will power and function normally for days, weeks or even months before a problem will become apparent. So if you can get your iPhone to power up and work, we’d recommend backing up your data just in case the worst happens. Apple provides a handy guide to tell if the liquid contact indicators (LCI) have activated within the iPhone on their website.

What to do next

Most damage to the phone happens with the first few minutes of water contact. However, if you can get the device to us in the first few hours or days we can give it the best chance to dry and remove any remaining liquid. We can help with:

• Cleaning and removing liquid from the phone.
• Assessing the damage.
• Providing an estimate for repairs & perform those repairs.
• Writing an insurance report/estimate on request.

Avoiding a repeat

We get asked all the time how to treat water damage, and the best method is prevention. Having a waterproof case or water-resistant phone is the best chance of survival when dropped in water. However, no device can prove 100% certainty, so we always say to keep it away from any possibility of liquid contact. That’s right we get water-resistant phones brought in for water damage just as much. That includes using your iPhone on the toilet or even having it in the bathroom while showering as steam can get into your iPhone.

Which iPhones are water-resistant?

• • iPhone 7 / 7 Plus
  • iPhone 8 / 8 Plus
  • iPhone X / XR
  • iPhone XS Max
  • iPhone 11 / 11 Pro
  • iPhone 11 Pro Max
  • iPhone 12 / 12 Pro
  • iPhone 12 Mini
  • iPhone 12 Pro
  • iPhone 13 / 13 Pro
  • iPhone 13 Mini
  • iPhone 13 Pro Max