Italy fines Apple nearly $12M over ‘misleading’ claims

Italy on Monday fined US technology giant Apple €10 million ($11.97 million) for giving "misleading" information in advertisements and promotions regarding the water-resistant properties of its smartphones.

"Apple's feature of being water resistant up to 30 minutes at a depth ranging from 1 to 4 meters is actually only valid in laboratory tests with static and pure water and is not under normal use conditions. It does not clarify this in promotions", the Italian Competition Authority said in a statement.

It underlined the warranty given by Apple during the sale of these products does not cover the damage caused by liquids.

Considering the "waterproof" feature showed in the advertisements of these products, it is not clear what kind of warranty is offered, the authority added.

It was reported that the smartphone models in question, which contain misleading information in their promotions, are iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone XR, iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.