A brave and/or foolish (delete as appropriate) triathlete has pushed his Apple Watch to the limits in a series of intense waterproofing tests on YouTube – not only does the wearable survive, but it still works swimmingly afterwards.
Ray Maker from DC Rainmaker starts by taking the watch for into the pool for around 20 minutes of lap swimming – which he says is “one of the hardest things to waterproof against” – covering 1200m. The watch barely seems to notice, still performing as usual even when still covered in water directly following the swim.
Maker notes that the water seems to interfere with the heart rate sensor, with the readings fluctuating wildly between 70 – 214 BPM as he swam. Either he’s got some serious arrhythmia that needs checking out, or it just plain doesn’t work underwater.
In another video, he takes the watch for a few deep plunges from diving boards up to 10m high, with similarly impressive results.
Finally Maker pops his Apple Watch into a custom built waterproofing test chamber. He ramps up the water pressure to simulate 40m of depth, and once again it still seemingly functions perfectly afterwards.
Given the results of these waterproofing tests, it’s a little surprising that the Apple Watch was only given an IPX7 rating, meaning it can safely withstand submersion up to one meter. It’s likely that Apple is erring on the side of caution to avoid complaints if any customers do decide to take a plunge with the device.
While we certainly wouldn’t recommend pushing the Apple Watch beyond its recommended limits – remember that Apple’s warranty doesn’t cover intentional water exposure – it looks as though a quick shower or dip in the pool wouldn’t be anywhere close to lethal for the device.
Read more: Apple Watch Sport glass put through scratch test
How does the Apple Watch fare against intense waterproof testing from @dcrainmakerblog? We were surprised! http://t.co/qvLN6nQYPD
— TapSmart (@TapSmart) May 12, 2015