Short answer: IP68 means an iPhone can survive brief immersion in fresh water under controlled laboratory conditions. It does not mean waterproof, it does not cover swimming pools, the sea, or a monsoon downpour, and liquid damage is excluded from every standard warranty — Apple's and ours. Treat water resistance as protection against accidents, never as permission.
What the rating actually means
The two digits describe two different things.
6 is the dust rating — the highest, meaning fully dust-tight. Useful in Indian conditions and rarely discussed.
8 is the water rating. Apple tests iPhones to a depth of up to six metres for up to thirty minutes on recent models, and to shallower depths on older ones. Those tests use still, fresh water in a laboratory, on a brand new device.
Every part of that matters, and none of it describes real life.
Why the rating overstates real protection
The seals age. Adhesive and gaskets degrade with heat, time and every knock the phone takes. A four-year-old phone does not have the water resistance it left the factory with, and there is no way to measure how much it has lost.
Any repair breaks the seal. Once a phone has been opened, the original factory seal is gone. A quality repair reseals it; a cheap one may not. This is one reason a device with unknown repair history is a genuine risk.
Salt and chlorine are not fresh water. Sea water is corrosive and chlorinated pool water attacks seals. Neither is covered by the test.
Pressure changes everything. Still immersion is one thing. Water moving with force — a shower jet, a wave, a tap — is another entirely.
Heat matters. Steam from a hot shower penetrates far more easily than liquid water.
The warranty exclusion, plainly
Liquid damage is excluded from Apple's warranty and from ours, and from essentially every standard device warranty in the industry.
Every iPhone contains liquid contact indicators — small strips inside the SIM slot and elsewhere that turn from white or silver to red on contact with liquid. Service centres check them. Once triggered, they do not reset.
So the situation is genuinely this: the phone is rated to survive water, and if water damages it, you pay. That is not a contradiction so much as an important distinction between an engineering specification and a commercial promise.
What warranties do cover is set out in warranty and billing explained.
Which iPhones have which rating
| Generation | Rating |
|---|---|
| iPhone SE (2020) | IP67 — shallower depth |
| iPhone XR | IP67 |
| iPhone 11 | IP68, up to 2m |
| iPhone 12 onward | IP68, up to 6m |
All are laboratory figures on new devices, and all degrade with age.
If your phone does get wet
Do not charge it. Applying power to wet contacts causes far more damage than the water alone. Modern iPhones will warn you and refuse to charge — do not override it.
Power it off, wipe the exterior, and tap it gently with the ports facing down to clear standing water.
Leave it in a dry, airy place for at least a day. Longer if it was properly submerged.
Do not put it in rice. It does nothing useful and pushes starch and dust into the ports. Apple advises against it.
Do not use a hairdryer or direct heat. Heat damages components and drives moisture deeper.
Then be realistic. A phone that works after a soaking may still be corroding internally, and failures can appear weeks later. If it was significant exposure, get it inspected rather than assuming it survived.
Practical rules for India
Monsoon rain is usually survivable but prolonged exposure is not — keep it pocketed rather than in your hand on a long wet walk. Do not use it in the shower. Do not take it into a pool or the sea for photos, ever. And after any exposure to salt water, rinse it briefly with fresh water and dry it thoroughly, because leaving salt to dry on the device is worse than the water was.
What this means for buying renewed
Two things follow directly.
First, repair history matters. A device opened for a cheap screen or battery replacement may have no meaningful water resistance left, and you cannot tell by looking. This is one of the strongest arguments for buying from an operation that documents what it does to each device rather than one that does not.
Second, assume less protection than the spec sheet claims on any phone more than two years old, however it was bought.
Every Premium Renewed iPhone goes through over 300 quality checks and ships at 100% battery health with an 18-month warranty — which, like every warranty in this industry, does not cover liquid damage.
Frequently asked questions
Is the iPhone waterproof?
No. iPhones are water resistant, rated IP67 or IP68 depending on the model. That covers brief accidental immersion in fresh water under laboratory conditions, not swimming, showering or sustained exposure.
Does warranty cover water damage on an iPhone?
No. Liquid damage is excluded from Apple's warranty and from essentially all standard device warranties, including ours. Internal liquid contact indicators show service centres whether a device has been exposed.
Does water resistance decrease over time?
Yes. Seals and adhesives degrade with age, heat and impacts, and any repair that opens the device breaks the original factory seal. Older phones offer less protection than their rating suggests.
What should I do if my iPhone gets wet?
Do not charge it. Power it off, wipe it dry, tap gently with the ports downward and leave it in a dry airy place for at least a day. Do not use rice, a hairdryer or direct heat.
Can I take an iPhone in the swimming pool?
No. Chlorinated and salt water are not covered by the IP rating and are corrosive to seals. Pool and sea use is one of the most common causes of liquid damage.
