Is Your iPhone Waterproof, or Just Water-Resistant?

Water-resistant vs. waterproof: they are not the same thing

Waterproof means completely impervious to water, no matter how long it is submerged or under what conditions. Nothing electronic that you carry in your pocket is truly waterproof in that sense, including your iPhone.

Water-resistant means the device has been engineered and sealed to keep water out under specific, limited conditions. Apple has never marketed the iPhone as waterproof for exactly this reason. The seals around the SIM tray, buttons, and speaker ports reduce how much water gets in, but they are not an invisible force field.

What an IP68 rating actually tells you

You have probably seen phones advertised with an 'IP' rating, like IP68. IP stands for Ingress Protection, and it is an international standard that measures how well a device resists solids and liquids.

The rating has two numbers. The first (from 0 to 6) covers protection against dust and debris; a 6 means fully dust-tight. The second number (from 0 to 9) covers protection against water. An 8 means the device can survive continuous immersion beyond one metre of depth, and manufacturers specify their own exact depth and time for that test.

Most recent iPhone models carry an IP68 rating, with Apple stating they were tested to withstand immersion up to around 6 metres for up to 30 minutes in controlled conditions. That sounds impressive, and it is genuinely solid engineering, but the key phrase is 'controlled conditions'.

• Older and budget-friendly phones often carry a lower rating, like IP54 or IP67, or no official rating at all.
• AirPods and most wireless earbuds have little to no meaningful water resistance, since their speaker grilles and charging contacts are hard to seal.
• A high IP number is not a green light for reckless use; it is a lab benchmark, not a real-world guarantee.

Why the lab rating does not match everyday life

IP testing happens in a controlled tank of still, room-temperature, fresh water. Real life is messier, and several everyday situations fall outside what the rating actually covers.

• Salt water and chlorinated pool water are more corrosive than fresh water and can damage seals and internal components over time, even on a highly rated phone.
• Hot water and steam, like a shower or a sauna, can cause condensation to form inside the device, which fresh-water immersion tests do not account for.
• Soap, shampoo, and sunscreen can break down the oil-based seals that help repel water, weakening protection.
• High-pressure water, like a jet wash, kitchen sprayer, or diving to real depth, can force water past seals that were only tested against still water.
• Dropping your phone even once, or having it repaired with a non-original screen or back glass, can compromise the seals and quietly reduce its protection, even though the phone looks fine.

On top of that, water resistance is not permanent. The rubber gaskets and adhesives inside your iPhone age and compress a little every time the phone flexes, heats up, or takes a knock. A three-year-old iPhone is meaningfully less water-resistant than the same model fresh out of the box, even though Apple does not print an expiry date on it.

Why Apple's warranty will not cover it

This surprises a lot of people: Apple's standard warranty explicitly excludes liquid damage, even on iPhones with an IP68 rating. AppleCare+ can cover accidental damage including liquid exposure, but only for a service fee, and only if you have that plan.

Apple built liquid contact indicators into iPhones for this exact reason. If your phone has been exposed to enough moisture, a technician can tell, and that is treated as accidental damage rather than a manufacturing defect. In short, the IP rating protects your phone; it does not protect your wallet.

The one thing an IP rating does not fix: trapped water in the speaker

Here is the part most rating charts leave out. Even a phone that survived a swim perfectly fine can end up with water trapped in the tiny mesh over the speaker or microphone. That water does not damage the phone, but it does block sound, so calls sound muffled, Face­Time audio gets quiet, and voice memos pick up almost nothing.

This is exactly the gap Eject Pro was built for. It is a free, ad-free app that plays a carefully tuned sound frequency designed to make the water in your speaker and microphone grilles vibrate loose, using the same basic idea as the water-eject shortcuts built into some smartwatches, just made simple and reliable for iPhone. After any splash, run a quick eject cycle and let the sound do the work instead of guessing whether the muffled audio will clear up on its own.

What not to do after your phone or earbuds get wet

A few well-meaning habits can actually make things worse. Avoid these, even though they are repeated everywhere online.

• Do not put your iPhone in a bag of rice. Rice does not pull moisture out of a sealed device effectively, and its dust can work its way into ports.
• Do not use a hair dryer, heater, or any heat source. Heat can damage the battery and push moisture further into the device instead of out.
• Do not charge the phone while it is wet or shortly after exposure. Charging a phone with a damp Lightning or USB-C port risks corrosion and, in rare cases, a short.
• Do not shake the phone hard or bang it against a surface trying to force water out, which can push water deeper or damage internal components.
• Do not assume a high IP rating means you can film or photograph underwater; even Apple does not recommend intentionally submerging the phone to take pictures.