In all my years teaching technology I can tell you, I have seen quite a few drowned iPhones. People have tried multiple ways to dry it out: rice, hair dryers, and even attempting to open the phone itself! Needless to say, they didn’t always work. Apple recently released the iPhone 7 that is water RESISTANT, not WATERPROOF. Many people wonder, just like us, what does that really mean? What is the difference between waterproof and water resistant? Let’s explore, shall we?
SHORT ANSWER:
Your phone will be okay if you:
- fall into the pool, tub, or another body of water
- spill a drink on it (I’m partial to Appletinis myself)
- gets splashed on
- using it briefly in a light rain
- drop it into the toilet (but please clean it after this happens. There is no such thing as a ‘clean toilet’ unless it was literally just installed).
- Tweet from the shower by accident
Every time it gets exposed to water, it loses some of it’s resistance to liquid FOREVER. The seals break down a little bit each time until they eventually fail. It’s like peeling a layer off an onion. Those layers will never grow back and the more you peel the less onion you have, like the iPhone’s seals do not regenerate. Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Oh, and liquid damage is not covered by Apple’s warranty. Too much water exposure and the iPhone is as susceptible as your last iPhone.
Okay, that was the short answer (that was short?)… now for the more detailed answer!
LONG ANSWER:
wa·ter·proof
adjective
Definition: impervious to water.
wa·ter-re·sis·tant
adjective
Definition: able to resist the penetration of water to some degree but not entirely.
By definition, water resistant is telling us it can take some water, but you probably shouldn’t go scuba diving with it. The seals can only hold against so much water pressure from a certain depth for so much time for their lifetime before they fail.
Devices are rated on their protection using an IP Code, which is short for International Protection Marking. That’s right, the world is all trying to use this same world-wide standard to rate these electronic devices.
The first number in the code following IP is how much protection against solid materials (dust, dirt, etc) and the second number is liquid (water, red wine, etc).
Indoor electrical power sockets: IP22
2X = Effective against Fingers or similar objects.
X2 = Protection against Dripping water for 10 minutes of 3mm liquid per minute.
iPhone 7 and 7 plus: IP67
6X = Effective against Dust tight: No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact (dust tight). A vacuum must be applied. Test duration of up to 8 hours based on air flow.
X7 = Protection against immersion, up to 1m (about 3.3 feet) depth for 30 minutes: Ingress of water in harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and time.
Apple officially says this about their responsibility with liquid exposure:
iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are splash, water, and dust resistant and were tested under controlled laboratory conditions with a rating of IP67 under IEC standard 60529. Splash, water, and dust resistance are not permanent conditions and resistance might decrease as a result of normal wear. Do not attempt to charge a wet iPhone; refer to the user guide for cleaning and drying instructions. Liquid damage not covered under warranty.
In conclusion. This is not the device to take into the pool every day and shoot underwater footage for hours at a time. It is, however, the water resistance iPhone against the spills and splashes and accidental dunking that we have been asking for since we first accidentally dropped our 3GSs in the toilet.
If you want to update your phone to an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus go here to order through Enjoy. We can show you some of the coolest new features it has to offer.
