After a thorough water test, CNET says Apple may be downplaying just how water-resistant the iPhone 12 really is.
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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).”