Disney returns working iPhone to owner, after two months underwater

Posted:
in General Discussion edited February 2020
An iPhone thought lost forever was returned to a family by Disney officials after scuba divers found the still working device.

Cinderella's Castle at Orlando's Walt Disney World
Cinderella's Castle at Orlando's Walt Disney World


While on a trip to Disney World, Lisa and Jacob Troyer had a not-so-magical experience and dropped their iPhone 11 into the Seven Seas Lagoon. The family informed a Disney employee and left their information, doubtful of any recovery of the photos even if the device were found. They were assured, however, that the diving team found things all the time, and the phone may be recovered.

"I was upset to have lost my phone, and the pictures I had taken that evening of Disney's Halloween party, which had been the main event for our trip," said Lisa Troyer. "Our six-year-old daughter was particularly devastated, as pictures of her and Jack Skellington would never materialize; instead, they sat at the bottom of a lagoon."

Two months later, Disney reached out to the family to say that the lost iPhone had been recovered. The iPhone showed up in the mail, fully functional.

"I was able to retrieve all of the pictures from our Disney Halloween night, and besides some sand in my case and a little algae on the cover, the phone seems no worse for the wear," she said, noting that the device was only protected by a thin silicone case.

The recovered iPhone 11 (photo credit: MacRumors)
The recovered iPhone 11 (photo credit: MacRumors)


The family reached out to Tim Cook who thanked them for sharing their story. Jacob Troyer reached out to MacRumors to relay the events.

The improved water resistance of the iPhone 11 is to thank for the devices working condition. The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro have IP68 ratings, but have different standards. The iPhone 11 Pro can withstand 4 meters submerged for 30 minutes, while the iPhone 11 and iPhone XS series can only be submerged 2 meters for 30 minutes.

Even though the rating calls for such, as long as the integrity of the phone holds, it will work again once dried off. The first iPhone to feature a water resistance rating was the iPhone 7 series at IP67.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 41
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
    No iCloud backup?
    pulseimagesjony0
  • Reply 2 of 41
    The phone looks like it’d been in Uncle Dagobert’s sceptic tank for a week
    edited February 2020
  • Reply 3 of 41
    There’s been a 4x improvement in water resistance between the iPhone 7 and 11, that’s pretty impressive.

    Looks like the real life resistance is even better.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 41
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    No cellular connection while under water.  No way to do the backup. 
    lolliverpulseimageswatto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 41
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    Probably not. Most smartphone users don't backup anything. They connect a cable when their memory gets full and offload. 
    edited February 2020 lkrupp
  • Reply 6 of 41
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 1,999member
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    If you have it set to upload your photos to iCloud, I believe you can set it to only do it with WiFi.  They may not have had a chance to be on WiFi during the time between the Halloween party and the dunk in the lagoon.  

    sphericlolliverBart Y
  • Reply 7 of 41
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Appleish said:
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    Probably not. Most smartphone users don't backup anything. They connect a cable when their memory gets full and offload.



    The 5GB free iCloud account fills up quickly and they refuse to pay for more storage because, well, they're cheapskates. 
    sphericlolliverjony0
  • Reply 8 of 41
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    chadbag said:
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    If you have it set to upload your photos to iCloud, I believe you can set it to only do it with WiFi.  They may not have had a chance to be on WiFi during the time between the Halloween party and the dunk in the lagoon.  

    The Disney in-park wi-fi is pretty good. I don't have good numbers on data transfer speeds, but it beats the 4G speed and responsiveness for the most part.

    That said, it sounds like the family wasn't using iCloud syncing at all, based on comments that they've made. I'm glad that Disney was able to fish the iPhone out.
    caladanianjony0
  • Reply 9 of 41
    bshankbshank Posts: 255member
    Won’t happen once Europe forces Apple to have a removable battery on iPhone. Then I imagine European customers won’t have as good an outcome in similar circumstances and flood Apple Champs-Elysées with pitchforks, perplexed and angry that their iPhones aren’t as water resistant. 
    edited February 2020 mwhitepscooter63zroger73Rayz2016Bart Yfahlmanjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 41
    chadbag said:
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    If you have it set to upload your photos to iCloud, I believe you can set it to only do it with WiFi.  They may not have had a chance to be on WiFi during the time between the Halloween party and the dunk in the lagoon.  

    Yes. Manually back up at any time with Wi-Fi.
  • Reply 11 of 41
    normmnormm Posts: 653member
    The improved water resistance of the iPhone 11 is to thank for the devices working condition. The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro have IP68 ratings, but have different standards. The iPhone 11 Pro can withstand 4 meters submerged for 30 minutes, while the iPhone 11 and iPhone XS series can only be submerged 2 meters for 30 minutes.
    Apple likes to exceed expectations.  The phone survived somewhat more than 30 minutes!

    edited February 2020 lolliverStrangeDayswatto_cobra
  • Reply 12 of 41
    macguimacgui Posts: 2,350member
    I image the family has looked into iCloud backup now, even if only and especially for photos. Plus, 99¢ for 50Gs is a pretty good deal, even for accused cheapskates.
    caladanianlolliverStrangeDaysjony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 41
    camccamc Posts: 45member
    Not sure I’d like to test long-time water resistance with my 11 pro though 😕
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 41
    I suppose lagoons aren't very deep? No mention of water level based on my brief poking around of teh Interwebs.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 41
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    I suppose lagoons aren't very deep? No mention of water level based on my brief poking around of teh Interwebs.
    Seven Seas Lagoon is pretty big, and more than 100 feet at the deepest point. This said, we have no idea exactly where in the phone was dropped, be it during boat travel, or next to a pier.
    caladanianking editor the gratelolliverjony0
  • Reply 16 of 41
    Disney returned the phone after 2 months means under water for 2 months? Maybe the diver found the phone the next day, but Disney took 59 days to send. p/s - I'm iPhone user since 2010. I'm a fan.
    edited February 2020 watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 41
    Mike WuertheleMike Wuerthele Posts: 6,858administrator
    happymark said:
    Disney returned the phone after 2 months means under water for 2 months? Maybe the diver found the phone the next day, but Disney took 59 days to send. p/s - I'm iPhone user since 2010. I'm a fan.
    In this case, yes.
    caladanian
  • Reply 18 of 41
    iOS_Guy80 said:
    chadbag said:
    hentaiboy said:
    No iCloud backup?
    If you have it set to upload your photos to iCloud, I believe you can set it to only do it with WiFi.  They may not have had a chance to be on WiFi during the time between the Halloween party and the dunk in the lagoon.  

    Yes. Manually back up at any time with Wi-Fi.
    iCloud backup will only happen automatically if:

    1) Automatic backup is enabled
    2) The iPhone is connected to power
    3) The iPhone is connected to WiFi 
    4) The screen is locked

    So, even if #1 was enabled, sitting in the bottom of the lagoon would only result in #4, and possibly #3, if they joined the iPhone to the Disney WiFi network, although the signal would probably get attenuated quite a bit by the water.   But, regardless, it didn’t have #2


    -rb
    sphericcaladanianfahlmanwatto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 41
    happymark said:
    Disney returned the phone after 2 months means under water for 2 months? Maybe the diver found the phone the next day, but Disney took 59 days to send.
    Well here is AppleInsider’s Headline :smile: 

    “Disney returns working iPhone to owner, after two months underwater”


    jony0watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 41
    avon b7avon b7 Posts: 7,624member
    bshank said:
    Won’t happen once Europe forces Apple to have a removable battery on iPhone. Then I imagine European customers won’t have as good an outcome in similar circumstances and flood Apple Champs-Elysées with pitchforks, perplexed and angry that their iPhones aren’t as water resistant. 
    What makes you think a removable battery wouldn't allow this to happen?

    The IP rating is simply a rating. How it is met doesn't depend on the presence of audio jacks, removable batteries etc.

    In fact, there was no guarantee that this particular phone would survive either and away from exceptional cases like this one, the impact on repairability or replacing is unnecessarily high IMO.

    IIRC Apple (and most other manufacturers) doesn't guarantee the water resistance of the IP rating either. Apple has a disclaimer pointing out that even the given rating could be reduced through normal wear.

    Having a phone that can resist water is nice but so is an easily replaceable battery. It is possible for both concepts to co-exist on the same device.

    Whenever a phone is submerged in water (or lost in water) you still have to cross your fingers. I'm happy for the owners of this phone because they retrieved the device AND got the contents off. Luckily involuntary water immersion is not a common occurrence. Battery replacement is.
    muthuk_vanalingamgatorguy
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