iPhone XS displaying weird green lines after water exposure

Hi @joshatticus,

The impurities in the water causes corrosion and provides circuit paths for the electricity which were not in the phone's operating design and could damage the components. The corrosion starts immediately and is ongoing until it is completely cleaned away.

Rice does not fix the problems caused by corrosion. Rice is for dinner, not repair

First do not try to charge or to turn on your phone and then remove the battery as soon as possible from the phone to minimize any further damage. There is always power on the logic board, even when the phone is turned off. The power button is not a power isolating button. Its function is to signal the intentions of the user. Think of the phone as being in an extremely low power state when off and not that it is not connected to any power.

Then you need to dis-assemble the rest of the phone and clean all the affected parts using Isopropyl Alcohol 99%+ (available at electronics parts stores) to remove all traces of corrosion and water. If possible do not use "rubbing alcohol" as in some cases this is only 70% IPA or less, can contain additives and is not as effective. If you do have to use it check the label to verify the amount of IPA. The higher the percentage of IPA the better

Here is a link that describes the process. Electronics Water Damage

As always with electronics, especially surface mounted pcb be gentle when handling and especially when brushing away the corrosion. You do not want to remove any components from the board. Remove the shields that may be covering some components as the water may have got in under there. The ends of any flex cables and their connectors need to be cleaned as well

Hopefully after you have done all this the phone might possibly work correctly again.

Here is the ifixit iPhone XS guides that may help. It may be that you might have to replace the display assembly if cleaning the logic board doesn’t solve the problem.

If this process seems too daunting, take your phone to a reputable, professional phone repair service, experienced in liquid damage repair and ask for a quote for a repair. If you decide to do this, do it sooner than later.