If you look at the iPhone 12 product page, Apple says it’s water resistant, up to 6 meters (20 feet) for half an hour. And yet Apple refuses to cover liquid damage under the warranty. Can it get away with this absurd contradiction? The €10 million (about $12 million) fine from Italy’s antitrust authority last month says no.

This is a classic case of having your cake and eating it too. Apple claims that the iPhone is water resistant, even showing it getting splashed with liquid in promotional videos. But the fine print states that “liquid damage is not covered under warranty,” and the company even has a support page detailing the steps it takes to detect water infiltration in your iPhone.

The Italian AGCM ruled that Apple's promotion of water resistance is misleading to consumers and could induce people to buy an iPhone when they otherwise would not. Apple was fined two times €5 million. But this does not answer the question: is the iPhone waterproof or not?

The iPhone has an IP68 rating against dust and water. The IP code, or Ingress Protection Code, consists of two numbers and an optional letter. The first number indicates the ingress of particles (such as dust), while the second number indicates water resistance. For particles, the ratings range from 0-6, from zero protection to full protection. For liquids, they range from 0-8, the latter being total immersion, with an additional rating, "9K", for resistance to high-pressure water jets.