The iPhone has been rated IP68 dust- and water-resistant for a while, but IP68 only requires depth testing of 1 meter for 30 minutes, and I assumed that was the rating for the iPhone. Basically, just enough to not worry to much about using your phone in the bathtub or sitting on the top step of a swimming pool where you might splash it or drop it in shallow water.

It turns out, for the 13 Pro Max, Apple actually rates it to 6 meters (about 20 feet).

I just got back from a family trip to Hawaii. The last day, we snorkeled from a boat and made a last stop on the way back in. I forgot I had stuck my phone in my swimsuit pocket.

I didn’t exceed the duration, but my phone spent 20 minutes in the ocean, including a couple minutes at depths between 20 and 30 feet (split across several free dives).

I realized my phone was in my pocket as I was climbing back into the boat and was NOT expecting it to still work when I pulled it out, but no problems at all.

I’m not planning on doing it again, but I will definitely stay unworried about the bathtub or swimming pool.

A couple random underwater photos from the trip, because why not? Taken with a GoPro in a waterproof housing, not with my iPhone.

Yellow tang and trumpetfish at about 25 feet. Trumpetfish are just so weird.



Coral head in about 15 feet of water. Not a lot of detail and the water clarity was poor but I really like the shot.

Every post 6 series iPhone has had pretty impressive water resistance. I remember a vid torture test where a guy tested a 7 at increasing depths in the Columbia river that didn’t start suffering intrusion until several minutes at 35’. Every depth prior (all for several minutes) were fine.

Which island were you snorkeling off of?

We stayed at the west end of Maui. We mostly snorkeled in Kapalua Bay off the beach, but the day we snorkeled off the boat we went to Olowalu and the Mala Wharf ruins at Lahaina (which is where my phone went swimming with me).

The trumpetfish pic is from Olowalu and the coral head is in Kapalua Bay on the western edge of the sandy area in the middle.

My 11-year-old and 6-year-old got really into it, and I think a big part of that was the huge numbers of colorful fish and how easy and accessible getting to them was.

quote:

Originally posted by gearhounds:
Every post 6 series iPhone has had pretty impressive water resistance...

I did not know that. Still, I have no plans to test my IPhone 7 underwater when we visit the Galapagos Islands in October.

I looked into buying a good underwater camera or GoPro for snorkeling shots, I decided to go cheap and got some of those one-time use underwater cameras. They will be fine for our needs.