Did you drop your phone in the toilet or spill juice on it by accident? Did you have to answer a call while it was raining? We’ve all been there. To make matters worse, Apple’s warranty doesn’t cover water damage. The good news is that iPhone water damage isn’t a permanent conundrum.
The first step, however, is to identify when your phone is suffering from water damage. To help you out, here are five clear signs you need to look out for:
1. Check the LCI
One of the most obvious signs of water damage is your iPhone’s Liquid Contact Indicator (LCI) color. It should appear silver or white, depending on your iPhone model. It will turn red if your phone has severe water damage and needs immediate repairs.
The location of the LCI depends on the model of your iPhone. Models from the iPhone 5 onwards place the LCI by the SIM card slot. For older models, you’ll find the LCI by the headphone jack.
Your phone’s LCI is the main indicator of significant water damage. If it hasn’t turned red yet but your phone is already experiencing the other symptoms listed below, take your phone to a repair shop before the damage spreads.
Keep in mind that a red LCI spells doom for your warranty. Apple doesn’t repair phones with a red LCI since it indicates water damage. Despite advertisements claiming it’s a water-resistant device, Apple won’t cover water damages so you’ll have to seek repairs from third-party professionals.
2. Boot Up Issues
How can you tell if your phone is suffering from water damage if the LCI didn’t turn red yet? Fortunately, there are a few other symptoms of water damage to look out for. A common one you might experience is a boot-up error.
A phone with water damage might randomly turn off and on again. When it does, you might see nothing but a blank white screen. It won’t move on from this phase, locking you in a white screen.
Some people refer to this as the White Screen of Death, meaning your phone died and you need to repair and reboot it. The downside is rebooting your phone from this will erase all the data and files saved on it. This is why you should always back up important files on iCloud.
3. Warning/Error Messages
Dealing with a dropped phone in water doesn’t always lead to immediate problems. You might not even know your phone has water damage because it won’t look problematic. However, you could start getting error messages when doing things that normally work.
For example, you might get an error messaging after plugging in your iPhone to charge. It’ll state that the cable isn’t compatible with your phone even if you’re using an official iPhone charger.
This can happen even with Bluetooth devices. If the water damage reached your phone’s inner components, it won’t be able to detect and pair with Bluetooth devices. This includes headsets and speakers.
Did you get an error or warning message after plugging something into your phone’s charger port? If you did, immediately un-sync your iPhone and remove the cable. It’s time to seek professional repair services.
4. Other Ports Stop Working
You might also have a broken iPhone if the other ports break. Modern iPhones have a single USB-C port for charging and connecting headsets. However, if you own an older model, you can still find a separate 3.5mm earphone jack.
If that also fails to read your headset or earphones, it’s likely there’s an internal problem. Of course, it could simply be your earphones. Test whether or not it’s the phone by plugging in different earphones to the 3.5mm port.
Did all of the earphones fail to work? Do you hear constant static regardless of the earphone inserted? If you experience any of these problems then you could be looking at water damage.
The best way to make sure is to bring your phone to an expert and have it checked. It could simply be a damaged earphone port or it could be an early symptom of water damage. Taking your phone to an expert repairman guarantees you can catch the problem before it spreads.
5. Water Spots on the Screen
You might not need to open up and repair your phone yet. If your phone got wet from the rain or a spill, you might be able to spot early symptoms of water damage by checking your screen. Spots on the screen are a good indication that water seeped inside.
Spots on your screen come from water droplets that dried from the inside. The dirt and debris caught in the water will remain after the droplets dry off and can settle and damage your screen surface. It doesn’t take much for the damage to become noticeable.
This can happen when your phone gets exposed to rain or when juice and water spill on your phone. The liquid might not have entered the ports but could’ve seeped through the screen and screen protector.
Fortunately, this could mean the damage hasn’t corrupted the internal hardware yet. Therefore, taking your phone to a professional repairman could decrease the chances of your phone completely shutting down.
Repair iPhone Water Damage Today
Dealing with iPhone water damage can seem a little bit of a hassle. After all, you might not even know if your phone has water damage until you see some of the aforementioned symptoms. Make it a habit to check the phone’s LCI and look out for the other symptoms of water damage after taking your phone out in the rain.
If your phone does show these signs, don’t waste time trying to get Apple to repair the device. The warranty doesn’t cover water damage.
Don’t fret if you don’t know how to fix phone water damage. We’re here to help. Never hesitate to get in touch with us now for professional iPhone repairs and let us get your phone back in shape.
