Apple to replace water-damaged iPhones via out-of-warranty service

ifoAppleStore is reporting that Apple has instituted a new policy that will let iPhone owners swap their liquid-damaged iPhones for replacements. For $199US, customers can swap their defunct phones for a refurb unit, provided that it succumbed to an out-of-warranty encounter with liquid. Here's the catch: Said swap renews your 2-year contract with AT&T -- so it's pretty much like buying a new phone, except if you were to do that out of contract it would cost you $499 for a 16GB unit.*

Of course, this could also be another way to clear current iPhone inventory in preparation for a new model.

We couldn't determine if sweat-induced failures are covered by this program, but we'll let you know if we find out.

*Update: Apple has told us that a replacement under out-of-warranty service would not renew a customer's contract. We apologize for the error.