Is The iPhone XS As Resistant To Water As Apple Announced?

iPhone's water resistance is not something new; however, when announcing its iPhone XS, Apple made a big claim about how resistant the phone was. It has IP rate of 68, which means it can be dunked in up to 2 meters deep and 30 minutes long, while the previous model with IP67 can resist up to 1 meter only.

In addition, marketing chief at Apple, Phil Schiller, approved of taking the phone off the deep end at Apple's September keynote.

He stated that if users were by the pool and dropped their phones into the water, no need to worry, just diver down, pick it up, clean it, let it dry and everything's fine.

He didn't just stop at the pool.

He added that his team also tested that phone in different liquids, such as salt water, tea, beer, orange juice and chlorinated water. And this was the most fun testing to be done at Apple.

So that's what CNET did, they tested the iPhone XS, starting with a dive in the pool.

The pool test

The test was conducted in the pool, which was 1.8 meters in depth, so not exactly to the 2 meters that the IP68 allow, but this depth is pretty close. Prior to conducting this test, they set the screen to remain on and started the timer.

After a half an hour, they dove down to grab it and the display was still on. When they got the phone out of the water, the time had passed the 30 minutes mark for about two minutes; however, the timer had been started before being dropped in the water.

According to Apple’s recommendations, they used tap water to wash off the chlorine and lint-free cloth to dry it. Apple as well suggests that you should wait around five hours before charging it  again. Then they switched it off and let it dry for around 15 minutes and then turn it back on.

Firstly, they tested these buttons: the ringer switch, the power button, and the volume button. The touchscreen worked perfectly. However, from either side of the phone, there was hardly any sound coming out. After playing a video with sound for a few seconds, they found the speakers have tiny drops coming out. After that, the audio started getting louder.

When they heard sound playing from every speaker, they continued by opening voice memo to test the microphone. Although the sound was still muffled, they were not sure whether it was because of the speakers.

Finally, they decided to give it more time to dry completely by letting it sit overnight.

The drink tests

During the wait, they used another phone to conduct testing in the list of liquids mentioned above. First, they conducted with spilled orange juice. They arranged a breakfast with a glass of juice. Then they knocked it over while the phone was nearby.

All the ports were wet, but they just left it in the wet ground for a few seconds before pulling the phone and washing it off with tap water. Then, they carried out test the buttons, screen, and speakers like in the pool test to ensure everything in the perfect work order.

They conducted the same test with other liquids – hot tea and red wine. After that, they went to San Francisco's Nob Hill and brought the phone to a bar where they recreated the beer spill like what Apple showed. They did a sloppy cheer that spilled beer on the new phone. It still worked perfectly.

They conducted the last test on the San Francisco Bay where they intentionally dropped the phone while taking a photo. The phone sank under around 2-inch salt water before they grabbed it after a few seconds. They rinsed it and it washed it up again, the phone passed the test.

Conclusion

After letting the phone dry for 20 hours, they ran the same tests again. The phone tested with liquids was still in good working condition, but the phone which was dunked for around half an hour was still having issues with its speakers.

Although, they still heard both speakers work, the top one sounded intermittent and muffled. The netting of speaker still had tiny drops bubbling up while the video was playing.

But when they played it more, the sound was improved. And they continued letting the phone sit again for 24 hours before making the conclusion.

Finally, after about two days, the speakers worked normally.

Though both phones tested got a pass grade, liquid damages are not covered in the wanrranty; therefore, do not try anything like this test at home. The iPhone XS has a water indicator located inside the SIM slot. If your phone goes for a swim, check it once you’ve let it dry off. If the indicator is not red, you're lucky as under the warranty, otherwise, you're out of luck.