The iPhone with iOS 7: Not Nearly As Waterproof As Some Ads Claimed

Social network users who took a recently-discovered advertisement on the sites too close to heart discovered that some advertising just doesn't live up to expectations. This time, however, it may well have killed several iPhones in the process thanks to unaccountable promises that iOS 7 could allow an iPhone to protect itself in the midst of complete immersion in water.

While the idea of waterproofing an iOS device isn't exactly new—the recently-concluded Wearable Technology Expo showed off several measures intended to waterproof an iPhone In fact, waterproof iPhone cases have been around for some time—the ads in question suggested that these were all pretty much obsolete because Apple itself had spawned a whole new workaround in the form of an iOS 7 update. Under the terms of the update, iOS 7 would provide a “smart-switch” that would automatically “...shut off the phone's power supply and corresponding components to prevent any damage.”

The idea got legs via Twitter and Facebook—among others—and was even backed up by the appearance of an advertisement done in the style of Apple's own marketing material that provided extra credence to the concept, including the note that the waterproofing would be covered by Apple's own warranty policy, several users not only upgraded to iOS 7, but tested out the new feature...only to discover that said feature did not actually exist. As for the source of said rumor, several fingers are already pointing in the direction of 4Chan, the controversial Internet forum site containing forums on a wide array of topics.

Admittedly, the advertising does look a lot like that of Apple's own, especially in terms of layouts and fonts. There's also no denying that unexpected innovation on Apple's part is scarcely anything new; the months leading up to an iPhone launch have been historically packed with rumors about just what the new devices will be able to do, and hearing just about anything come out isn't outside the realm of possibility as far as Apple goes. Surely when Siri first made an appearance its own existence was somewhat outside the realm of the possible. However, it's kind of a wonder that no one checked with Apple itself on this one, especially before going so far as to dunk an iPhone just to see if it actually worked. But then, the whole affair simply adds a little more credence as to the sheer power of an advertisement; an ad that just looked like an Apple ad was sufficient credible to some to actually immerse an iPhone in water outright.