Apple's 'iPhone 8' to gain tougher IP68 water and dust resistance - report
When it launches later this year, Apple is reportedly planning to make the water and dust resistance of the "iPhone 8" even better than the iPhone 7, upgrading it to an IP68 rating.
The change should allow the device to stay submerged at 1.5 meters (4.92 feet) for 30 minutes, The Korea Herald said, citing several sources. The iPhone 7 and most other smartphone carry an IP67 rating, which limits them to 1 meter (3.28 feet) for the same duration.
While a small difference, the only shipping phone with an IP68 rating is the Samsung Galaxy S7, which launched in early 2016. If they're water-resistant at all, smartphones typically share the iPhone 7's IP67 status.
Samsung is allegedly considering water resisance for many more phones, even its low-end J series. LG should soon have protected phones as well in the form of the mid-tier XCalibur and the flagship G6. The XCalibur, at least, will be an IP68 device.
Both Apple and Samsung are said to be using waterproof tapes instead of adhesives, since it makes repairs simpler.
Apple has had some form of water resistance in iPhones since the 6s, but the iPhone 7 was the first device to be officially certified.
The "iPhone 8" is expected to break from recent Apple designs and return to a "glass sandwich" construction, with a glass back and a stainless steel band around the middle. The centerpiece of the hardware should be a curved, Samsung-built OLED display, though it may also have features like wireless charging and a screen-integrated home button.
The change should allow the device to stay submerged at 1.5 meters (4.92 feet) for 30 minutes, The Korea Herald said, citing several sources. The iPhone 7 and most other smartphone carry an IP67 rating, which limits them to 1 meter (3.28 feet) for the same duration.
While a small difference, the only shipping phone with an IP68 rating is the Samsung Galaxy S7, which launched in early 2016. If they're water-resistant at all, smartphones typically share the iPhone 7's IP67 status.
Samsung is allegedly considering water resisance for many more phones, even its low-end J series. LG should soon have protected phones as well in the form of the mid-tier XCalibur and the flagship G6. The XCalibur, at least, will be an IP68 device.
Both Apple and Samsung are said to be using waterproof tapes instead of adhesives, since it makes repairs simpler.
Apple has had some form of water resistance in iPhones since the 6s, but the iPhone 7 was the first device to be officially certified.
The "iPhone 8" is expected to break from recent Apple designs and return to a "glass sandwich" construction, with a glass back and a stainless steel band around the middle. The centerpiece of the hardware should be a curved, Samsung-built OLED display, though it may also have features like wireless charging and a screen-integrated home button.
Comments
Is it possible those people were wrong? Can't be, so I can only conclude that this rumour is bogus.
The iPhone doing better doesn't inherently mean Samsung lied, and it certainly doesn't mean that Apple's IP code rating is too low. You have to consider what the rating means.
Even with an IP67 rating if you take an iPhone in to be repaired for an issue that wasn't caused by water damage they may turn you away because your liquid indicators have been triggered as water damage isn't covered by the warranty. It's IPx7 rating states that it can survive the pressure of water at a 1M depth for 30 minutes, but Apple has no idea if it feel in the sink or the bottom of a diving pool. It's IPx7 rating also doesn't mean that it can only survive at up to that depth. The IPx8 rating is poorly stated and means nothing without the vendor specifically stating what depth and timeframe it's been tested.
Because of Apple's position in the market and mindshare, they're going to under-promise and over-deliver when it's to their financial benefit.
Samsung chose a relatively meaningless extra half meter simply to be able to convince folks into believing the phone was water resistant to a greater degree than a phone with a IP 67 rating when the iPhone 7 may actually have been water resistant to a greater depth, but Apple chose not to certify it beyond 1 meter. I am guessing that if this rumor is true, Apple decided to counter this BS by applying a IP 68 rating because they know their phone is already water resistant to some depth beyond 1 meter.
Again, double check, but I think you've misunderstood the difference between IP 7 and IP 8. Also, I believe the dust rating, i.e., the "6" is already the highest and certifies the product is completely dust proof and thus Apple can't get a higher dust rating as your article and headline implies.
I saw a couple reports of the iPhone 7 speakers getting damaged (or at least not sounding the same) after being immersed. Has anyone else seen those, and any idea if it was widespread or isolated?
Considering there is no warranty for water damages and it would be hard to prove for a random person they didn't take it deeper, it's an easy lie to get away with.
Apple has a tendency to way way understate water protection; many swam with the first Apple Watch despite it not being rated for such a thing.
this will give all of the ratings, and a short explanation of what they mean.
http://www.dsmt.com/resources/ip-rating-chart/
so watches are rated to be water resistant down to a certain number of meters, or pressure levels.
back when I was diving, I had an Omega Oceanmaster dive Watch rated to 1,200 meters. But even that wasn't certified to be waterproof, and if you did get water inside, unless it could be proven that the sealing was actually defective, you paid for the (expensive) repair, even under warrantee.
i strongly dislike writers, or even posters, referring to something as waterproof. Unless it's a solid block of something that water doesn't corrode, it ain't waterproof!
If you overengineer a product for its condition of actual use, even this gradual slippage in performance means that it would likely be 99.9% of devices for a year that do not fail while used regularly in water. A few though could degrade a bit faster due to variance in manufacturing and use and fail even within those environmental parameters.
There's more to it than the actual test. For example, let's say two companies are testing water resistance of their phones. To make numbering simple, let's say a device has to score over 50 to attain an IP68 rating and over 40 to get an IP67 rating. Company A and B both test 100 phones and get results from 55-75. Since all 100 devices were over 50 Company B proclaims them to be sufficiently water resistant to get the IP68 rating.
However, company A is concerned about wear & tear having an effect on water resistance. So they simulate one year of use and retest those same 100 phones. Now the scores have dropped and range from 45-60. Many pass the required score of 50 to get IP68, but some don't. Company A decides to play it safe and assigns an IP67 rating.
Which of these companies do you think is Apple and which is Samsung?