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Soon to be released iPhone, will it be Waterproof from the factory?

617aircav said:
It doesn't make sense for apple to do it. The consumer is not demanding it, so why would apple do it and reduce their profit margins. This is why it doesn't make sense.
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Because it would be one-upping the competition. Bragging rights, much like how the iPhone has a glass back, it's style points.
 
Sigh. When will people stop asking for things that will not happen?
So far, the only devices capable of being waterproof are rugged devices designed to take a beating underwater, against physical damage and so on. They're phones designed for extreme durability.
For a smartphone that has to maintain a balance between durability and the sleekness/design, you can't do that.
 
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CallOfDuty said:
Sigh. When will people stop asking for things that will not happen?
So far, the only devices capable of being waterproof are rugged devices designed to take a beating underwater, against physical damage and so on. They're phones designed for extreme durability.
For a smartphone that has to maintain a balance between durability and the sleekness/design, you can't do that.
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It's actually not that hard to make something water resistant to 10m.

I can guarantee you this. It WILL happen. It might take a year or ten but it will happen. Much like how even Steve Jobs didn't want to make tablets because people wanted keyboards for emailing and no one wanted a tablet just for reading. Things changed and now we have the iPad.

As the smartphone becomes more and more the all-in-one device, people will become more and more used to ALWAYS having their phones on them and to replace as many other electronics that they might carry with one device. One of these things is waterproof camera. Not only for taking to the beach without worries, but for actual underwater or near water photos. Not to mention water damage from accidents.

The point is, never say never. This will happen and our future selves will look at our contemporary selves and wonder how we could be so damn primitive. This is forward thinking, people.

To say they will never do this or shouldn't even try is not only naive, it stifles innovation and progress. You can stay behind and look like a caveman, or move forward with an open mind and be an innovator. It's up to you.
 
McGiord said:
Why do you think this kind of protection in an electronic device that is massively produced, like the OS products, will increase its cost by $50?
That price tag sounds more like an aftermarket fee.
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Apple likes huge profit margins, 40-50%.

So yes, Apple will get it cheaper if it's mass produced, but they will also want to make money on it. They are not a charity, they owe it to their stockholders.
If they start adding features that erode the margins too fast, Apple stock will drop like a rock.

-t

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McGiord said:
So all of us who want this in our iPhones, are not consumers?
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Why the heck don't you get it for $59 yourself ?

Oh, let me guess, you want it for free ?

So let me be real clear: if you expect all kinds of things for free, you are not a consumer in the eye of the manufacturer. Only if you are willing to pay enough for them to make a profit that meets their expectations.

-t
 
turtle777 said:
Apple likes huge profit margins, 40-50%.

So yes, Apple will get it cheaper if it's mass produced, but they will also want to make money on it. They are not a charity, they owe it to their stockholders.
If they start adding features that erode the margins too fast, Apple stock will drop like a rock.

-t

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Why the heck don't you get it for $59 yourself ?

Oh, let me guess, you want it for free ?

So let me be real clear: if you expect all kinds of things for free, you are not a consumer in the eye of the manufacturer. Only if you are willing to pay enough for them to make a profit that meets their expectations.

-t
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Nothing is free.
For consumers-manufacturers like you describe we get things overpriced. By things I mean products and services. But that is a topic for another thread.

Please read back my previous posts in this thread. I don't expect it to be free, but this will not increase the final product price by that amount you suggest.

As a consumer I prefer the maker of the device to stand behind this kind of protection, aftermarket products like these, if not properly validated could cause negative side effects.
 
I doubt Apple would go to the expense and engineering time/cost to produce a phone that .05% of people are going to drop in poo water.
 
The vast majority of users would have no need for something like this. As such, even if the cost increase is pennies, I am not sure it is going to drive sales at all, thus being a money sink. For those that need a waterproof phone, there are cases for that. There are also companies that will waterproof your electronics for you.
 
Well, their main response to water issues has been to install a boatload of detectors in the devices.

Pragmatically, they recently added the AppleCare+ option, so a customer can at least mitigate the cost of their own carelessness or someone else's mistreatment of a device.

Short of those two ideas, I don't see Apple spending a lot of time on the fact that electronics and liquids don't usually mix well.
 
lordofthereef said:
The vast majority of users would have no need for something like this. As such, even if the cost increase is pennies, I am not sure it is going to drive sales at all, thus being a money sink. For those that need a waterproof phone, there are cases for that. There are also companies that will waterproof your electronics for you.
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What you said is simply the truth. A tiny percentage ever drop their devices in water, so it's not a real problem. Plus, there are a lot of waterproof cases out there right now. Maybe in the future.

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LizKat said:
Well, their main response to water issues has been to install a boatload of detectors in the devices.

Pragmatically, they recently added the AppleCare+ option, so a customer can at least mitigate the cost of their own carelessness or someone else's mistreatment of a device.

Short of those two ideas, I don't see Apple spending a lot of time on the fact that electronics and liquids don't usually mix well.
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I agree.
 
turtle777 said:
How do you know ?

-t
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Because it is just a coating applied to the circuits before closing the iPhone.
Cycle time > 2xTurtle speed
Coating material 2g
Estimated total cost of 0.02 USD
And as this estimate is way off, like most estimates, applying a potosi factor x10, adds 2.00 USD.
 
Apple isn't worried about these small factors which would add cost and problems to its hardware.
 
McGiord said:
Because it is just a coating applied to the circuits before closing the iPhone.
Cycle time > 2xTurtle speed
Coating material 2g
Estimated total cost of 0.02 USD
And as this estimate is way off, like most estimates, applying a potosi factor x10, adds 2.00 USD.
Click to expand...

If it's that cheap, why don't you start your own shop doing it.

Heck, you should be able to do it for $20 and make a killing.

In other words - you don't know anything about how much cost it would add to Apple.

-t
 
turtle777 said:
If it's that cheap, why don't you start your own shop doing it.

Heck, you should be able to do it for $20 and make a killing.

In other words - you don't know anything about how much cost it would add to Apple.

-t
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How much would it cost then? Give us your magic number?

Why should I start a shop?

Well, let's say I do it. I follow your wise advice and open a shop for waterproofing iPhones. I will have no need to do any calculation, I already have a financial tech guru from MacRumors forums setting the price.

$10 per iPhone, and if you want the turtle777 special $20, free consultation included.

The story could be like this: small entrepreneur waterproofing shop, let's call it T-Shell, as for Turtle Shell, LLC. Nice name as the turtles are amphibians and live pretty well in and out of the water.

A company idea that started from a MacRumors discussion thread, has sky rocketed with service requests to waterproof iOS devices, the devices that are waterproofed by this service, need to be opened to apply the coating, therefore voiding the warranty coverage.
Then the shop will be all over the news small waterproofing shop that overcharges the public for the turtle special that also voids the warrabty ran out of business as now it is an industry standard to have waterproofed devices.

If you care to read the thread title, what I wanted to discuss is from the factory, and that means that the waterproofing is done at the factory.

Thanks for your contribution, I really appreciate the discussion. Some people seem to prefer not to have their iPhone waterproofed, and that is OK.

I do prefer if all the iOS devices have this kind of robustness sometime in the near future.
 
Recent news about HzO

They are saying next year will be the year.
That makes me wonder even more if Apple decides to be the first to adopt it?
They will love to be able to say this: iPhone is the first smartphone in the market to have waterproofing protection...

About the cost and price: "Any increase in costs to waterproof devices will be decided by the manufacturer. Clayson said the cost of the coating "will not be prohibitive to any consumer on any device."
 
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Wow - - I'm surprised about the hostility towards this idea!

I've been a fan of waterproof point-and-shoot cameras for the past decade. A device like a camera or a phone that I carry with me 24/7 sooner or later risks getting exposed to water. Does no one ever get unexpectedly caught out in a rainstorm or thrown in a lake? I suppose the majority of the negative commenters are office dwellers who rarely revel in the joys of the outside world.

My hopes for this feature went up exponentially when the rumors of the new connector began. This is a golden opportunity for Apple to design out the biggest waterproofing weak spot on their current portable devices.

I say bring it on!
 
What? An extra feature! No we don't want extra features! /sarcasm
 
Just as smartphone cameras decimated the point-and-shoot camera market, the category of waterproof models became perfected. I would love to have an iPhone that has the same specs as a Panasonic Lumix TG-4 - - waterproof to 50 ft, drop proof to 7 ft, freezeproof to 14℉.
 
The problem is, how does Apple distinguish whether or not a phone was put in water too deep or is the waterproof seal in that phone just flawed? (For warranty purposes)
 
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