An iPhone 11 survived a two-month underwater trip at Disney World

Though Apple’s refusal to cover water damage under warranty for iPhones has long been a point of contention for the firm’s detractors, a recent report gives anecdotal but impressive proof of the iPhone 11’s durability.

As MacRumors reported, a family’s trip to the popular Disney World resort in Orlando, Florida almost ended with a huge mishap. Lisa and Jacob Troyer reportedly took their daughter Sophie on a trip to the resort in October, which turned out to be the fun outing they had planned—that is, until Lisa dropped her new iPhone 11 into the Seven Seas Lagoon, near the park’s iconic Magic Kingdom.

The family reported the incident to the park employees, but recovering the phone seemed unlikely, so they purchased a new phone when they returned home, bemoaning the loss of their vacation photos all the while.

Thankfully, though, the story eventually revealed its belated happy ending. Almost two months after the trip, the park employees were able to contact the family with news of the phone’s recovery. Even more incredible, the family received the lost handset and discovered that it was still functional!



The phone case had some sand and algae, but the device itself was fully functional, allowing them to recover their photos. The iPhone 11’s IP68 water resistance is only good for up to two meters and thirty minutes, but the phone somehow survived much harsher conditions for longer than seemed possible.

While this doesn’t change the fact that Apple won’t fix waterlogged phones under warranty, it does conjure some more faith in the iPhone family’s ability to withstand the unexpected parts of life. But to be safest, you’d probably be wise to enable automatic iCloud backup for photos.