iPhone lost at sea found after a year: how was it possible?

Owner Clare Atfield, 39, lost her iPhone 8+ at sea while playing sports. The woman is still incredulous about what happened, especially for the condition of the cell phone itself after it was found. Losing your smartphone is a nightmare that haunts all of us. Nowadays, in fact, owning one is like having become a Jedi knight who cannot go around without a lightsaber. Yet more and more often we hear of that friend or family member who, in unclear circumstances, have lost their device.

Of course, companies like Apple and the like make available assistance packages that can be purchased for just these eventualities. At a higher price in fact, the house of the apple provides the " Where is " app, to track the location of lost devices . But the fact that Claire had lost her iPhone at sea dashed all hope. At least until its discovery, when hope turned into amazement.

How Claire lost her Iphone

The woman lives in England in Hampshire and has been practicing SUP with Paddle since August 2021. SUP is an acronym that stands for Stand Up Paddle . It is a discipline practiced by those who love water sports. In practice it is like a mix between canoeing and surfing, being able to "walk" on the stretches of water with the board. All while standing on it while the sportsman rows with the paddle (Paddle) to navigate and move. In recounting the story, Claire said:

I was paddleboarding quite far out to sea, but fell off my board. I went back and continued but then realized I lost my phone. It was quite a way out to sea, but it was inside one of those protective phone cases, so it must have sunk and stayed there.

Claire Atfield

The discovery and the surprise

During the interview Claire added that while paddling she always wears her cell phone around her neck.
In fact, 460 days after the accident, a dog sitter finds a waterproof case a few kilometers from the incident. Bradley Cotton, this is his name, was walking on the shore of the beach and found the lost iPhone, he immediately called the owner. The man was able to contact her thanks to the data from Claire's mother's health card contained in the case that ended up in the sea .

What struck Claire the most when she was found was the condition of the smartphone. Although the back panel was broken , the lost iPhone was fully functional ! In fact, given the apparently dramatic conditions, the woman immediately thought that the water had entered and damaged the phone. As she later added, she said she was amazed at the absence of serious damage, especially at how rough the sea could get.

Possible reasons that made the lost iPhone so resistant

The model Claire lost is an iPhone 8 plus. The latter, as well as its successors, is provided with some particular specifications for resistance. In more detail, like many other cell phones, it is equipped with IP certification. The IP code (or IP degree of protection or international protection marking , Ingress Protection ,), is a parameter defined by the international standard IEC 60529. This standard classifies and evaluates the degree of protection provided by mechanical enclosures and electrical panels. Especially against the intrusion of solid particles (such as body parts and dust) and the access of liquids.

The IP code always consists of the letters IP, followed by two digits and an optional letter. The two numbers indicate the first protection against solids, the second against liquids. In the case of the iPhone 8+ it has an IP67 certification which also indicates water resistance level 7. This means that when you place it one meter deep in warm water for less than 30 minutes, it will not be damaged. IP67 devices are not completely waterproof, however they have total protection against the ingress of dust, sand and any small solid body in general.

The article iPhone lost at sea found after a year: how was it possible? was written on: Tech CuE | Close-up Engineering .