Tomorrow’s Tech, Today: Innovation That Moves Us Forward
- The iPhone 7 carries an IP67 rating, rated to survive 30 minutes in 1 meter of water.
- I dunked an iPhone 7 in my building pool with Sean Hollister; it mostly survived but showed battle scars.
- Chlorinated pool water and ocean salt can slowly corrode internal components even after drying, shortening device lifespan.
- Water damage, intentional or not, will void Apple warranty, so the test made me much more cautious around water.
There’s nothing I love more than testing a tech company’s claims. I used to host a CNET YouTube series called Breaking Point, where I got to do what most people try to avoid: torture their tech. That meant purposely dropping thousands of dollars’ worth of phones on the ground, dunking them in water and pushing them to their limits.
So when Apple released its first water-resistant iPhone in 2016, I thought, “Game on!”
It’s hard to imagine now, but before the iPhone 7, a splash of water could make your Apple phone useless. Its IP67 rating means it can withstand 30 minutes in 1 meter of water (about 3 feet). To test it, I took the iPhone 7 for a “swim” in the pool at my old San Francisco apartment building, along with then CNET senior editor Sean Hollister, and filmed the whole thing.
We ended up testing it beyond its limits and didn’t exactly follow all the care instructions. Spoiler alert: The iPhone mostly survived, but it did come away with a battle scar or two.
At the time, I was blissfully unaware that just because a phone is fine after being underwater doesn’t mean it escaped damage. Chlorinated pool water and ocean saltwater can slowly corrode the materials inside a phone, even after it’s dried out. That wouldn’t kill a phone right away, but it would shorten its lifespan. Water damage (intentional or not) will void Apple’s warranty.
Looking back at this 10-year-old video of Hollister and me throwing an iPhone 7 into a pool is ironic. Instead of taking my phone on more water-related adventures, safe in the knowledge that my tech should be fine, I’m careful with my iPhone around water. Less fun, yes, but more informed.
Watch my full Did the iPhone 7 Survive Our Water Test? video down below.
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