Leaked doc shows what is & isn't covered in Apple's iPhone warranty repairs

A copy of a "Visual/Mechanical Inspection Guide" has reportedly leaked online, giving a behind-the-scenes glimpse at what Apple will and won't cover under an iPhone's warranty.

A 22-page document dated March 3 recently appeared on Dropbox, Business Insider said on Friday. While the site didn't provide a link, it did offer a few screenshots, and commented that the "VMI" specifically addresses the iPhone 6, 6s, and 7 lines.

The only problems definitively covered by an Apple warranty include broken pixels, debris under the display glass, misaligned FaceTime camera foam, and/or a hairline crack on the front glass unaccompanied by any other cracks, the guide indicates. The last point is an improvement from 2014, when people were still expected to pay.

"We have one [VMIs] just like that for all of the products," one Apple retail technician explained to BI. "Used more for the physical inspection and how to determine cost for damage. That's basically half the training for iPhone techs."

Another, however, suggested that technicians "don't refer to it all that often" unless there's an "oddball issue."

Apple's website says only that warranties won't cover "damage resulting from accident, disassembly, unauthorized service and unauthorized modifications," such as using an unofficial battery, or dropping a phone in a bathtub.

Technicians are expected to conduct inspections and ask several questions if they suspect liquid damage, the VMI explains, and may still grant warranty coverage when an external liquid indicator has been tripped but there are no other signs. There are further exceptions too, such as phones that are otherwise defective.

The VMI isn't the final word, one Apple retail worker commented.

"There are always those one-off issues that the phone is technically not covered under warranty but we swap the phone anyways under warranty," the person said.

28 Comments

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

About 7 years ago

Why do they need these guidelines? Because people will lie through their teeth about how an expensive piece of hardware came to be broken. The Apple discussion forums are full of, "I didn't do anything and I take very good care of my device. The next day there was a deep scratch on my screen and I know I didn't put i there."

SpamSandwich 32917 comments · 19 Years

Leakers of private corporate information should be prosecuted into poverty. Especially on matters such as this, which simply embolden other criminals. This isn't about something Apple has done "wrong", this is valuable competitive information.

ktappe 824 comments · 16 Years

SpamSandwich said:

Leakers of private corporate information should be prosecuted into poverty.

"Into poverty"?? What a vindictive, punitive culture we've become. Seeing these guidelines make me *more* happy with Apple. Until now it seemed like the Geniuses pulled some of their device-repair decisions out of their butts. Now that I can see the guidelines in writing, I can know what to expect before I take my device into the Apple Store. This should help Apple customer relations, not hurt it. If you think this helps Apple's competitors somehow, you're nuts. First, they very likely already have a copy of them. Second, it's not that hard to come up with these; the competitors already have them for every device they've ever sold.

ihatescreennames 1967 comments · 19 Years

lkrupp said:

Why do they need these guidelines? Because people will lie through their teeth about how an expensive piece of hardware came to be broken. The Apple discussion forums are full of, "I didn't do anything and I take very good care of my device. The next day there was a deep scratch on my screen and I know I didn't put i there."

When I worked in the Apple Store I used to hear all sorts of amazing ways that iPhone displays were broken. "It fell on the grass from just a couple of inches!" "I dropped it onto soft carpeting while on my couch and it was in a case." Those are real examples and people would stick to their stories.

Same goes for liquid damage. "The phone has never been near water, how could it get wet?!?" My answer was always that I couldn't determine how it got wet, only that there was evidence of liquid contact. I also heard the "It must have been from the steam in my bathroom while showering. I guess I shouldn't even bring this phone into the bathroom at all if it's so sensitive it will stop working from steam!!"

Single hairline cracks have been covered for a long time, as long as there is no obvious point of impact.

The reason technicians don't refer to the VMI that often is because they learn it. Once you know it why keep checking? Of course, Apple is continuously updating the VMI, so what they know this month may be changed next month, which is why they SHOULD check it, but the major things don't change all that often.

ktappe said:

SpamSandwich said:

Leakers of private corporate information should be prosecuted into poverty.

"Into poverty"?? What a vindictive, punitive culture we've become. Seeing these guidelines make me *more* happy with Apple. Until now it seemed like the Geniuses pulled some of their device-repair decisions out of their butts. Now that I can see the guidelines in writing, I can know what to expect before I take my device into the Apple Store. This should help Apple customer relations, not hurt it. If you think this helps Apple's competitors somehow, you're nuts. First, they very likely already have a copy of them. Second, it's not that hard to come up with these; the competitors already have them for every device they've ever sold.

An employee working for Apple signs an NDA and is legally bound to protect sensitive corporate information.

If the information had no value other than to make customers "feel good", don't you think they'd want everyone to know about it?

The leakers should be harshly dealt with and sued.