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iPhone 8/Plus iPhone 8 Plus Underwater

roland.g

roland.g

macrumors 604
Original poster
Apr 11, 2005
7,559
3,387
My wife dropped her iPhone 8 Plus in a reservoir(lake) and it sank to the bottom. 13 feet down. Right at the dock area. She couldn’t retrieve it due to the depth on her ears but wanted to try to get it still.

Anyone know what are the chances it will still work after a couple days down there now. I know the iPhone 7 could supposedly handle 10-15 feet just fine. 25 was where it would start to have issues. But those tests were 20-30 minutes. Not 48 hours.

Worth trying to recover or should I tell her to forget about it. I couldn’t find any info on how long it could survive down there. Depth is not terribly deep. But I’m not sure it is worth the effort.
 
roland.g said:
My wife dropped her iPhone 8 Plus in a reservoir(lake) and it sank to the bottom. 13 feet down. Right at the dock area. She couldn’t retrieve it due to the depth on her ears but wanted to try to get it still.

Anyone know what are the chances it will still work after a couple days down there now. I know the iPhone 7 could supposedly handle 10-15 feet just fine. 25 was where it would start to have issues. But those tests were 20-30 minutes. Not 48 hours.

Worth trying to recover or should I tell her to forget about it. I couldn’t find any info on how long it could survive down there. Depth is not terribly deep. But I’m not sure it is worth the effort.
Click to expand...

The iPhone 8 Plus has an IP67 water resistance rating which means it can withstand immersion in water up to one meter (3.3 feet) for 30 minutes. It’s not waterproof. As @BugeyeSTI said, it’s still worth a shot to try to recover it and see what happens.
 
roland.g said:
My wife dropped her iPhone 8 Plus in a reservoir(lake) and it sank to the bottom. 13 feet down. Right at the dock area. She couldn’t retrieve it due to the depth on her ears but wanted to try to get it still.

Anyone know what are the chances it will still work after a couple days down there now. I know the iPhone 7 could supposedly handle 10-15 feet just fine. 25 was where it would start to have issues. But those tests were 20-30 minutes. Not 48 hours.

Worth trying to recover or should I tell her to forget about it. I couldn’t find any info on how long it could survive down there. Depth is not terribly deep. But I’m not sure it is worth the effort.
Click to expand...

Even if you were able to retrieve the phone and if it were to power on, I’m still likely to believe that it would have a shortened lifespan with water intrusion that will eventually short out the logic board and other components. Especially in a severe case as your iPhone being submerged 13 feet underwater for a couple of days. As you said, likely not worth the effort.
 
I guess the question at the point is whether the $399 price would most likely be a replacement instead of a repair. If so it could still be worth it.

I was out of town at the time and she simply couldn’t get down to that depth.
 
I’d definitely go get it. And I would let it dry and pull the sim tray and see if the water sensor has been triggered. Oh and you might try find my iPhone from a different iPhone. Might take you right to it.
 
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roland.g said:
I guess the question at the point is whether the $399 price would most likely be a replacement instead of a repair. If so it could still be worth it.

I was out of town at the time and she simply couldn’t get down to that depth.
Click to expand...

Even if you could retrieve it, I doubt Apple would do anything with an iPhone that water logged as it is. Especially at thirteen feet with water ingress points for that period of time submerged.

Also, a replacement device includes a one year warranty attached as well.
 
Relentless Power said:
Even if you could retrieve it, I doubt Apple would do anything with an iPhone that water logged as it is. Especially at thirteen feet with water ingress points for that period of time submerged.

Also, a replacement device includes a one year warranty attached as well.
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Yeah but if he gets the phone and takes it to Apple won’t they only charge him around half the price to replace it?
 
Brandonjr36 said:
Yeah but if he gets the phone and takes it to Apple won’t they only charge him around half the price to replace it?
Click to expand...

I don’t know that there is much logic behind diving down 13 feet for a phone that has been submerged on the bottom of a lake for a couple of days in pitch blackness, with no guarantee of finding it. That would be unsafe. I would rather just opt for the replacement.
 
Relentless Power said:
I don’t know that there is much logic behind diving down 13 feet for a phone that has been submerged on the bottom of a lake for a couple of days in pitch blackness, with no guarantee of finding it. That would be unsafe. I would rather just opt for the replacement.
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Yeah but I mean some people swim down that far anyway. I think it would be worth a shot. I would use another iPhone to track me right to it and take a flashlight down and see if I could find it.
 
Precursor said:
It will work, just don't try to power it up and leave it in a bag of rice for a couple days.

There was a news about an iphone recovered from a river that still worked, it was there for 2 weeks. Here it is http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...overs-iPhone-X-Arizona-river-finds-works.html
Click to expand...

I’m not trying to dismiss your advice, but rice is generally ineffective, especially in this situation. If a phone has been submerged under water for that amount of time at 13 feet, it would have to be disassembled and an ultrasonic bath would be the only real option to rid of any water that might protrude against the logic board or other hardware components. I also highly question if it would even function given that it’s been submerged for that long of a time frame under 13 feet of water, but anything is possible.
 
Relentless Power said:
I’m not trying to dismiss your advice, but rice is generally ineffective, especially in this situation. If a phone has been submerged under water for that amount of time at 13 feet, it would have to be disassembled and an ultrasonic bath would be the only real option to rid of any water that might protrude against the logic board or other hardware components. I also highly question if it would even function given that it’s been submerged for that long of a time frame under 13 feet of water, but anything is possible.
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I didn't suggest to leave it underwater for 2 weeks as in the river example. OP posted yesterday so there is still a high chance that iphone will work if recovered now.
 
Precursor said:
I didn't suggest to leave it underwater for 2 weeks as in the river example. OP posted yesterday so there is still a high chance that iphone will work if recovered now.
Click to expand...

I understand you didn’t make a suggestion to leave it under water for two weeks, I was commenting that rice is generally ineffective and if it’s been underwater that long at 13 feet considering the ingress points, I question if it would actually function normally and even if it would, is it worth risking having a shortened lifespan with a phone likely being waterlogged. Also , The OP stated that the phone has been down there for ‘A couple of days’ now if you read the first post.
 
Relentless Power said:
I understand you didn’t make a suggestion to leave it under water for two weeks, I was commenting that rice is generally ineffective and if it’s been underwater that long at 13 feet considering the ingress points, I question if it would actually function normally and even if it would, is it worth risking having a shortened lifespan with a phone likely being waterlogged. Also , The OP stated that the phone has been down there for ‘A couple of days’ now if you read the first post.
Click to expand...
The news that I linked to mentioned "let it dry out for three days, immersing it in a tub of silicone beads and even using a hair dryer". And it worked, after being submerged in a running river for two weeks.
 
Precursor said:
The news that I linked to mentioned "let it dry out for three days, immersing it in a tub of silicone beads and even using a hair dryer". And it worked, after being submerged in a running river for two weeks.
Click to expand...

I read the article, but _your_ first suggestion was suggest using rice, which is essentially useless. Gel silica packets out of a shoebox would be another option, but that’s not even guaranteed to work either. Regardless, there is *no* guarantee that every device will-experience the same results regardless of how long its been exposed to water. It Doesn’t matter if it’s been splashed or if it’s been submerged, not every two devices will react the same. Also, even if it were to power on, which it may or may not, it’s just a matter of time before it would likely short out due to water intrusion, which an ultrasonic bath is the only real Suitable option. Clearly, the OP is considering other options besides retrieving the phone at this point.
 
roland.g said:
My wife dropped her iPhone 8 Plus in a reservoir(lake) and it sank to the bottom. 13 feet down. Right at the dock area. She couldn’t retrieve it due to the depth on her ears but wanted to try to get it still.

Anyone know what are the chances it will still work after a couple days down there now. I know the iPhone 7 could supposedly handle 10-15 feet just fine. 25 was where it would start to have issues. But those tests were 20-30 minutes. Not 48 hours.

Worth trying to recover or should I tell her to forget about it. I couldn’t find any info on how long it could survive down there. Depth is not terribly deep. But I’m not sure it is worth the effort.
Click to expand...

Instead of posting about it on a forum go jump in and get it, wth?
 
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partyboy4357 said:
Instead of posting about it on a forum go jump in and get it, wth?
Click to expand...

Clearly because the OP is asking for other additional advice as well for replacement devices, it’s not just about retrieving the phone anymore, as other options are being explored if you read the above posts.
 
Definitely try and get it.

My mom actually dropped her iPhone 5 in a lake, with no case. I grabbed it from the bottom and it worked well enough for long enough to back it up. I would guess an iPhone 7/8 would hold up much better!
 
Went to the lake. A friend of mine was able to get it from the bottom. I can’t dive to 13 or so feet with the pressure.

We were able to retrieve it. It is drying out but I can clearly tell water is inside. I don’t expect it to function though a week or so of drying out may potentially allow it to charge and then I might be able to grab a back up from it as well as photos and videos that are not in photo stream.

Even if it doesn’t work I am hoping to head to Apple with it and get a replacement for $399 - which thanks to the poster above was the info that made us give retrieving it a shot - since that is about half the price.

I had debated getting her AppleCare+ but I think that would have meant a cheaper replacement. Not sure why I didn’t as she keeps her devices longer than I do.

It was only purchased in late April and is a Red iPhone 8 Plus.

Thanks for all the responses. I’ll update in a week or two if the data is retrievable.
 
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If you haven't already done so, open up the iPhone to let it dry.

If it's full of water inside, it won't dry naturally. You can buy a pentalobe screwdriver kit for $4.99 on Amazon.

Apple will replace the phone for $399 as long as there's no catastrophic damage (phone is in multiple pieces).
 
That’s impressive that your friend was able to find it. Curious to see how this all turns out, but at least the device was able to be retrieved.
 
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