Is the iPhone 6s waterproof? Apple isn’t bragging about this new feature, but tests show the iPhone is more capable than the iPhone 6 when it comes to playing in water.
You’ve probably seen it: a Facebook post where someone complained about dropping their iPhone in the bathroom/toilet/puddle/sink followed by a prayer they read online that this brass trick actually worked. For the unenlightened, it’s widely spoken that placing your phone in a bowl of rice will save it from accidental bathing. Does it work? It’s probably not as good as you’d hope – but there are steps to protect your iPhone from water damage.
In recent years, we’ve seen Android competitors like Samsung and Sony do their best and add substantial waterproofing to their phone lineup, while Apple has refused to do anything that might compromise the design of its phones.
However, according to several videos on YouTube, the launch of the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus this year may have seen some changes in that direction. The torture test, embarrassing as it may be, has become an annual event as soon as the new iPhone hits retail. Keys and blades go to town on both the aluminum back and the Gorilla Glass display; Phones are dropped, smashed, twisted – you name it – and all of this is filmed for the delight and annoyance of fans everywhere.
Just like last year, the first day iPhones came out saw people start testing, including seeing if the phones could withstand exposure to both more and less water. While most of us won’t have to worry about whether our phones will fall into the sink, this makes for an engaging video. Last year, several people researched whether the iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus could survive a complete immersion in a bowl of water, and the results weren’t all that hot. After just a few seconds or sometimes minutes, iPhones often stopped working permanently.
For those of you prone to water damage, this wasn’t good news. Fortunately, the new iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus seem to be breaking the trend.
YouTube channel TechSmartt posted a video showing what happens when you submerge the new 6S Plus in a bowl of water, and the results were surprising. Instead of slowing down after a few seconds or even minutes, the 6S Plus lasted for half an hour; That’s a lot longer than most people need to get their phone out of the extremely wet spot where they’ve placed it.
YouTube User Zach Straley conducted its own similar test with both the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus, but this time the phones were left in a bowl of water for about an hour. At 45 minutes they were removed to test functionality and both appeared to be working fine; they were then placed back in the water to get out of the clock. A few days later, Straley released an update video showing the devices in (almost) perfect working condition; the only flaw was a slight diagonal structure across the iPhone 6’s screen. All in all, not bad for an hour underwater.
Meanwhile, iDeviceHelp He went even further by putting the iPhone 6s Plus in a pool. While the pool environment is already harsher on the phone, thanks to the addition of chlorine and other chemicals, the video punishes the phone by sending it four meters below the water. After just a minute or two, the phone starts to have issues such as screen blacking; it soon heats up and becomes completely unresponsive. A few hours later, the phone appeared to be permanently dead. It is not surprising that the phone was damaged after such a test; after all, the water pressure at the bottom of a pool is almost eight times higher than a bowl filled with six inches of water.
So, has Apple secretly made the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus waterproof? The answer seems to be yes. Waterproof is perhaps a very strong term—after all, the iPhone didn’t survive the pool encounter—but it’s clear that the company has significantly improved the waterproofing of this year’s iPhones.
iFixit, known for flying to New Zealand every day of the iPhone’s launch and posting disassembly videos of the new model, may have found the secret to waterproofing. This year the repair guide company found new adhesive strips on the edges of the screen and other areas of the 6s. In addition to the rubber gaskets added last year around the power and volume buttons, these adhesive strips may be why the 2015 iPhone lasted so much longer in the water than its latest model.
While we don’t recommend finishing and testing your new iPhone with any liquid on hand, this news bodes well for keeping what has been an extremely expensive purchase for most of us. It also shows that Apple is seriously considering the durability of its iPhones; It’s no surprise that Apple made such a move in the same year and started an annual upgrade program that requires returning your phone every year. Perhaps next year we will see the company actively promoting waterproof features on stage?
