Apple has a multitude of products and accessories that are waterproof. But the resistance to water of a device is usually accompanied by nuances. It is very important to know to what extent an iPhone, Apple Watch or AirPods have resistance, so as not to overuse them or exceed the recommended exposure limits. So in this post we tell you the details.
Waterproof is not the same as submersible
For a device to be submersible, it must be waterproof. But that resistance isn’t just limited to preventing water from getting inside the internal components. It must also offer resistance up to a certain depth of meters, have a construction that supports high pressures, or some system that is 100% watertight and that completely isolates the electronics, in a very strong and resistant way.
What about AirPods? Are they waterproof or are they submersible? Can you swim with them? Let’s start at the beginning: not all AirPods offer water resistance. And just because those particular AirPods are waterproof doesn’t mean their charging cases are too. One thing is the headset, the other – where it is charged. Waterproof AirPods are:
- 3rd generation AirPods
- AirPods Pro 2nd generation
- AirPods Pro 1st generation
So AirPods Max, AirPods 1st Gen, or AirPods 2nd Gen are left out. Of course, in all three cases we are always talking about the headphones, not their charging bases. And although they do offer resistance to water and sweat, the certification with which they have is IPX4 . IP certifications have two characters. The first, in this case, the X, indicates that it has no resistance to dust. The second, 4, indicates that it does have water protection, but it is not the highest level. (Both characters are measured from 8, as the highest resistance, to X, when it does not exist).
The three models that offer this resistance are not designed for water sports , but to resist drops of sweat and water when we are training. Therefore, if we add to this protection that it is not permanent, we are sorry to tell you that no, you cannot swim with AirPods. Even so, something very important about charging cases must be nuanced: they do not have any type of protection against water, sweat or dust. They are also not submersible. To maximize the useful life of both your AirPods and the charging case, we recommend that you dry your AirPods well before storing them, and never put them on charge if either the headphones or the case are very wet or , directly, wet.
Above all, we recommend that if you have AirPods with a Lightning charging case, make sure that the connection port is dry before connecting the cable and charging the AirPods. This way you will avoid possible short circuits that could be produced by contact between water and electricity, and end up damaging your AirPods. A damage that would be derived from a liquid and Apple does not include it in its warranty, when making repairs.