After a thorough water test, CNET says Apple may be downplaying just how water-resistant the iPhone 12 really is.
The smartphone’s IP68 rating means it can survive up to 19.6 feet (6 meters) of water for 30 minutes. This applies to all four iPhone 12 models: the iPhone 12 Mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max. However, CNET discovered that, like its predecessor, Apple’s newest smartphone can handle a great deal more than that. Both of the iPhone 11 models far exceeded the official rating, surviving a 39-foot dive in salt water in Monterey Bay, California. This year CNET took an iPhone 12 for a “swim” in the frigid fresh water of Lake Tahoe, on the other side of the Golden State, to test it out.
Check out the entire test here, but CNET reaches this conclusion: “Our highly unscientific test would suggest that the iPhone 12 can withstand very deep water and clearly meets the IP68 claim. But, like all electronics, it does have a limit to how much water it can take and you should never intentionally submerge the phone in water (lake or otherwise).”