iPhone 7: Could Apple’s next phone be waterproof?

James Titcomb 15 August 2016 • 9:24am

We rely on our phones for almost everything, so when they are rendered unusable from being dropped in water – whether it’s the pool, bath or washing up bowl – it’s a disaster.

The solution, beyond the obvious "be more careful", is to find a way to waterproof our phones, but Apple, at least, is yet to fully do this.

Last year’s iPhone 6s made the device a lot more resistant to water damage, packing new waterproof material around sensitive parts of the device, but a series of hints suggest that the next iPhone 7 could well improve on this.

iOS 10's new feature

The iPhone 7 will ship with iOS 10, the latest generation of Apple’s mobile operating system, which will also be made available to older models.

Beta testers have noticed a new feature on the software which tells users not to plug the iPhone’s Lightning charging cable in because liquid has been detected.

The new iOS 10 feature tells you not to charge a wet phone Credit: EverythingApplePro/YouTube

It has been pointed out that the feature bears a resemblance to those that manufacturers who have launched waterproof phones have included.

Removing the headphone jack

One of the bigger changes in the iPhone 7 is likely to be the removal of the 3.5mm headphone jack, meaning headphones will connect either wirelessly or via the Lightning port.

Getting rid of the port removes a potential access point for water, reducing the number of areas where liquid could damage the phone.

Apple's latest patent

A recent Apple patent suggest waterproof technology could come to an iPhone at some point in the future, or at least that Apple is thinking about it.

The patent, granted last week, describes a system for taking better photographs underwater. Presumably if Apple is thinking about this, there could be a waterproof iPhone in its plans. However, many patented technologies never actually make it into products.