I am confident that most of us have experienced at least some form of water damage on our devices. I fully submerged my iPod touch 3rd generation in a pool, in my pocket, for almost an hour before noticing it at the bottom of the pool. Now, thanks to a new daemon script found in macOS Sonoma 14.1, Apple will know if your Mac device fell victim to liquid death.
Before we continue, for those unfamiliar with Apple’s One Year Limited Warranty, Apple specifically notes that devices with damage due to liquids will not be covered under warranty. That includes devices that are water resistant, including iPhone, Apple Watch, Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods. So, Apple is taking bigger strides to ensure customers don’t abuse the AppleCare repair system.
As noted by 9to5Mac, Sonoma 14.1 includes a daemon named “liquiddetectiond,” which runs in the background and collects data from the devices’ USB-C ports. 9to5Mac notes that the daemon is described as a “Liquid Detection and Corrosion Mitigation Daemon” within macOS. iPhone and iPad run a similar daemon, but the version in macOS also sends analytics to Apple and the repair technician when servicing the device.
It is important to mention that Apple devices come equipped with Liquid Contact Indicators (LCI) to detect liquid damage. These markers change color and/or pattern when they come in contact with liquid. The daemon works in addition to LCI.
Apple recently held its “Scary Fast” Mac event on October 30th, during which they unveiled their latest M3 series of chips and updated versions of their 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro with M3. This announcement also included the discontinuation of the M2 MacBook Pro model and a reduction in the entry price of the 14-inch model to $1599, with an M3 chip.
It is unclear whether the daemon is exclusive to M3-equipped models or part of macOS Sonoma 14.1, per 9to5Mac.
