iPhone 4 Reportedly Survives Even After Spending a Year at the Bottom of a Lake

By Tasneem Akolawala | Updated: 30 November 2016 12:17 IST

Highlights

Guntrum's iPhone 4 had fell into the lake in March 2015
An engineer found it after the lake's water was drained
After drying it in rice, the phone switched back on easily

Photo Credit: Buzzfeed

Apart from this year's iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, all the previous generation iPhones were not officially water resistant. However, in an interesting turn of events, a 2010-released iPhone 4 reportedly managed to survive underwater for about a year and even turned on after being dried.

iPhone 4 owner Michael Guntrum went ice fishing in March 2015. His iPhone fell at the bottom of the Kyle Lake in Pennsylvania due to a minor slip up from his end. He told Buzzfeed, "We were having negative-25-degree weather, so me and two buddies went ice fishing. We were sitting in our portable shanty, and I got a bite on my rod. I laid the phone on my lap, and it slipped off. Instead of landing flat in the snow, it hit its edge and rolled into the hole. I caught the fish - it was a blue gill - but it wasn't worth it."

In September 2015, the Kyle Lake was drained due to structural deficiencies in the dam, and mechanical engineer Daniel Kalgren decided to take his metal detector and search for all things shiny in the empty lake. He chanced upon Guntrum's iPhone 4, and decided to wipe it and keep it in rice to see if it still works.

Surely, after two days, the phone sprang back to life, albeit with signs of visible damage. The display of the iPhone 4 had suffered a lot, but it was still in working condition and usable. Kalgren managed to get in touch with Guntrum to tell him that his phone had been recovered alive from the depths of the lake.

This bizarre survival was attributed to the tough case made by OtterBox used by Guntrum on his iPhone, and is reported to be largely responsible from preventing the water from causing much damage. "I'm an Apple person, and this adds to the reasons why I only buy Apple devices. It's pretty impressive it still works," Kalgren told the publication.

It's one thing to have a device underperform its advertised abilities, but to withstand water pressure (not to mention the icy temperature) at the bottom of the lake? Goodwill points to Apple and OtterBox for that.