Apple’s latest iPhones, like many other expensive devices, come with an IP (ingress protection) rating that ensures the device is safe underwater for some time. The iPhone 11 has an IP68 rating (meaning it can survive at a depth of 2 meters up to 30 minutes) but a recent news report says the device was able to last longer – about six months underwater.
According to AppleInsider, a free-moving couple from Chilliwack were able to retrieve two calls down Harrison Lake in British Columbia. The couple regularly removed garbage from the pool and received calls – one flip the phone and the other the iPhone 11. While the first one was not working, the last one started working when they took it home, the report said.
The couple then contacted the first owner of the device, a Vancouver resident who reportedly threw his phone into the lake in September 2020. The owner, Fatemeh Ghodsi, lost balance when the phone fell into the pool and was told there was no way to retrieve it from the water, according to the report.
He told CBC Canada that he was “absolutely shocked” and that at first he thought his friends were teasing him as a message had come from his old number, but he eventually visited the couple in Chilliwack to get his smartphone back. “It was like a zombie phone coming back to me, because I was going to make peace with him when he was gone,” he said.
Last month, we reported on another iPhone user who went into the icy waters of Victoria Harbor to pick up her iPhone that had fallen on the night before Valentine’s Day, but we found that it worked well with photos taken by the victim as soon as she opened it in her pocket. It certainly looks like Apple devices last longer than the company advertises, but don’t throw them in big bodies – your warranty will be void if there is a water damage.