Apple Watch has been certified waterproof to depths of up to 50 meters since Series 2. With Apple Watch Ultra, which has a more rugged design to withstand the most challenging scenarios you can imagine, water resistance has been increased to a depth of up to 100 meters. But what happens if you put your Apple Watch underwater for months? 9to5Mac reader Amir Noorani seems to have the answer.
Apple Watch Ultra survives three months underwater
No, Noorani didn’t test the resistance of his first-generation Apple Watch Ultra on purpose. Unfortunately, he lost it in a lake, but the story had a happy ending after all.
Our reader, who lives in Los Angeles, told us that he was in Austin when he decided to take a dip in Lake Travis, which is known for many recreational activities like boating, swimming, and scuba diving. Apple Watch Ultra band are designed not to come off easily, but in this case, Noorani was wearing a silicone band with his watch.
When he was about 30 feet underwater, the watch band came off and the Apple Watch sank into the lake. Noorani tried to recover his Apple Watch Ultra right after losing it, but he had no luck. “I ended up hiring a scuba diver after dropping a marker but they were unable to find it,” he told us.
Since there wasn’t much else to do, Noorani enabled Lost Mode on his Apple Watch through the Find My app on his iPhone. By doing so, the Apple Watch would show a message to anyone who might find it later. Surprisingly, someone found Noorani’s lost Apple Watch – but not after a few days, but after three months.
“Three months later I received a call that they found the watch. I live in Los Angeles but my brother was able to meet the diver and retrieve the watch,” the owner said. The Apple Watch was covered in grime, and he was able to remove most of it. But was the Apple Watch still turning on?
At first, it didn’t. But after the person who found the Watch left it plugged into the charger for days, the watch turned on and has been working “perfectly” ever since. “[It’s] a testament to Apple’s engineering,” Noorani says with relief.
Water-resistant devices
Earlier this year, we wrote about another man who recovered his Apple Watch days after dropping it in the sea, thanks to Find My. There was also another case about a student who recovered his iPhone a week after dropping it in a lake. In this case, the person who found the iPhone was able to contact the owner thanks to Emergency Contacts.
What can we learn from all this? Well, your Apple products may be more resistant than you expect, and it’s always a good idea to use Find My or add an Emergency Contact so that other people can reach you in situations like this.
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