What you need to know
- A Scottish diver has reunited a lost iPhone with its owner after finding it in an Edinburgh river.
- The iPhone had been dropped in the river more than a year ago.
Diver Shane Stephen was just fishing a bicycle out of the Water of Leith in Edinburgh, Scotland when he saw a red iPhone in the water. After plucking it from its watery grave, Stephen was able to enlist the help of carrier O2 and return the soggy phone to its rightful owner. An owner who happened to have lost the iPhone more than a year ago.
As reported by The Scotsman, the diver was in the process of rescuing something else from the water when the iPhone discovery was made.
"About half an hour into my drive I came across a red mobile phone while I was retrieving a Just Eat bike out the water," Stephen said before continuing. After contacting O2 with the details found on the SIM card, the carrier and diver were able to identify the owner of the iPhone before returning it more than a year after it was lost.
Unfortunately, the report doesn't go on to explain whether the iPhone was still working. While highly unlikely, we have heard stories of iPhones surviving impossibly long spells underwater. Whether this is one of those instances, we might never know.
Apple's current iPhone 12 is rated as IP68, meaning it can stay submerged in 6 meters of water for around 30 minutes. Officially, at least.
The upcoming iPhone 13 may improve on that, although it isn't likely. Regardless of what water resistance rating a device has, a dry iPhone is undoubtedly the best iPhone.
