I made a fascinating discovery today, one which will undoubtedly land me an interview spot on CNN and a stint on all the major morning talk shows: drop your 8GB iPhone into a glass of water — entirely submerged — and watch it be magically replaced by a brand-new 16GB model.
All you need is a water-damaged iPhone, some serious frustration, and a wad of cash when you walk into the Apple Store. My notorious ADD-inspired (perhaps subconsciously-percipitated) clumsiness somehow resulted in me dropping my precious iPhone — the same one I stomped on and beat to death with the magnificent OtterBox Armor — into a full glass of ice water. All the phone could do after that was turn on and off…and on and off, and on and off…by itself…non-stop. It was almost as if the top on/off button was continually triggering its functions — even when the button wasn’t actually pressed.
I went to the iPod Bar at the store, and they told me I could get a replacement for about $250. All of a sudden, my mind was seized by vent-expelled polycarbonate-scented pheromones designed to relax the mind and make customers easily influenced by the nuclear-powered Reality Distortion Field generator built into every Apple Store. Within minutes, I was handing my credit card to the cashier, robotically paying for a new 16GB iPhone.
Apparently they’ve upgraded those RDF machines since the last time I was there. Damn.
Of course, when I mentioned to the Genius that I had dropped it in water, his first response was: “…the toilet, right?” No, no. A glass of water. Apparently toilet droppings are quite common (snicker). A friend of mine had a similar issue: Two days after purchasing his iPhone he dropped it right into the toilet — not gonna ask — and killed it. He hook it to the Apple Store, confessed truthfully to the mishap, and blammo: they gave him a new one on the spot.
As with all Apple products, support experiences vary — and when you’re getting support at the store, it all depends on the Genius who’s helping you. They have crazy discretion. Sound off in the comments: have you dropped your iPhone into a cup, a puddle, or toilet? How’d you deal with it?
WOW! Sorry to hear, but at least you got an upgrade. So how much did the 16GB cost? Thankfully I haven't done that with my iPhone, but I have actually dropped a BlackBerry 7100g into a glass of milk. This was a couple of years ago.
After taking it back out and keeping it powered off, I tried to pat dry all of the components with a paper towel. I did open it up to do this as well. After letting it sit in the window sill for a day to evaporate, the device powered on and worked. The screen was a little hazy in spots and the space bar (along with maybe 2 other keys) didn't work. Youcan'temailwithoutspaces...
Anyway, this just goes to show that while milk won't kill a BlackBerry, it is lactose intolerant!
I don't know about iPhones, but I once recovered a wet, non-working cell phone by suspending it about 6 inches over a 60 watt light bulb for several days
Ugh, I've done this before.
But in agreement with GypsyDr - I have recovered some electronic equipment after it got wet. The stuff was off though when it got soaked.
I nearly dropped mine into the toilet once... I was just sitting there listening to music with it resting next to me... sat up forgetting that it was resting next to me... caught the earbud cable just a few inches before it actually took the drink. Nearly went into cardiac arrest.