Apple Officially Warns Users to Stop Putting Wet iPhones in Rice | The company said the popular remedy could cause “small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.”::The company said the popular remedy could cause “small particles of rice to damage your iPhone.”

111 points

In case Apple’s advice doesn’t work, it’s safe to say that you probably need help from professional repair experts and may even need to prepare yourself to buy a new iPhone.

“Don’t do anything yourself, just come give us more money”

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85 points

Don’t put your phone in rice! You’ll break it and have to buy a new phone!

Ok, what should I do instead?

Buy a new phone.

…so what’s the harm in using rice?

…waste of food?

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49 points

Silica gel desiccant bags. That’s the same thing used in a lot of packaging material, like the little thing that says “do not eat” in a pill bottle or electronics bag.

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11 points

I save every one of these packs. Keep them in a gallon storage bag. Use in case of emergency.

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3 points

you need to boil the water out of them before use btw

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-3 points

If put 30 in a bowl if milk you have to go to the hospital

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2 points

Epic tale

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14 points

There is a small risk the rice will work and you won’t buy a new iPhone. Do you want to break the economy??

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3 points
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This is actually a thing. Worked in Apple Stores for years and saw laptops and phones full of rice. Whole grains and bits n bobs.

So before the rice you could actually do a modular repair sometimes. Swap out the battery or SSD.

Whole thing full of rice bits attached to every component? Forget it.

Also, once a device is liquid damaged, often rice will resurrect it but only until the logic board rusts through / goes dry. Copper oxidises over time.

On the other hand, if you can’t afford a repair or swap out, (contrary to popular opinion, Apple sell replacement devices through their service channel way cheaper than new units) rice might give your device a new lease of life. So sometimes worth the gamble.

Edit: missed the D off SSD which kind of changed the context!

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4 points

You can also hang on to silica gel packs that come in various packaging, they do the same thing as the rice but are more effective and wont clog up your device

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1 point

That’s a great point!

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44 points

I assume most folks here didn’t actually read the support article. It’s pretty reasonable.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102643

iOS can throw a warning message if there is water in the USB port during charging. Electricity and water are famously spicy friends.

Their recommendation is just to tap the bottom of the phone to get the water out, let it sit and dry for a few minutes, or use a Qi charger if you absolutely have to charge with a wet USB C port.

Most phones, including Apple’s, are pretty water proof these days. Rice is only going to get rice dust in your speaker, mic, and charge holes. Just tap the water out of let it sit for a few minutes.

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43 points
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Coming this Fall: Apple Dryness Pellets! A bag of Styrofoam rice that’ll run you $499.99 and an extra $70 for it to come in colors. Not compatible with CE models.

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40 points

Given that the iPhone is rated IP68, or impervious to dust and small particles, this seems like grounds for a return claim (or lawsuit in the states, idk).

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5 points
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The charging port is very pervious to dust and small particles.

…they shouldn’t get into the phone innards, but shove a USBC in there with them and they can definitely ruin the charging port.

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2 points

There are humidity indicators even outside the IP rated parts. If the technician finds a colored one you’re out of warranty by default. Source: started out at a store with repair shop.

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2 points

I’m referring to the rice grains, not the water.

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3 points

Yea, but usually your device was in touch with liquid before you put in rice.

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0 points

Technically you could just remove those humidity indicators yourself before taking the phone to service, but they’d still find any water damage inside the phone if present - just more time consuming for the tech

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