iPhone 17 Drops Into the Ocean and Keeps Recording for Two and a Half Hours

Earlier this week, PetaPixel reported on an iPhone 16 Pro slipping into the Mediterranean Sea, filming fish, and ultimately its rescue. And now another similar case has emerged, but this time an iPhone 17 Pro Max fell into the Atlantic Ocean, where it lay for two and a half hours before being rescued by a diver.

Influencers Kimchi & Joloff were shooting content on a dock in Martha’s Vineyard when the iPhone, which was on a tripod, blew over and the device slipped into the water below. The video captured Joloff’s scream as the camera kept recording and tumbled into the blue.

But rather than give up on the device, the New York-based couple decided to hire an emergency diver. An iPhone 17 Pro Max costs anywhere from $1,200 to $2,000. Miraculously, the diver not only found the phone but found it while still recording. Needless to say, the couple was overjoyed.

Kimchi & Jollof uploaded the full two and a half hour video to YouTube. Unlike the iPhone 16 Pro that dropped into the Mediterranean, it didn’t record any interesting sea creatures because the water is much murkier, and it fell more or less face down. But the end of the video shows it resurfacing with the diver.

“In what world does an iPhone survive in saltwater for two hours and 30 minutes?” asks Jollof, whose real name is Wuraola. “There were times when I was giving up and I was like, ‘I don’t think I’m getting this phone back’.”

The iPhone 17 Pro Max is classified as water-resistant, not waterproof. It has an IP68 rating; IP stands for Ingress Protection, while the 6 means the device is fully dustproof and the 8 means it is protected against water immersion of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet).

However, that water immersion rating is for freshwater, not the seawater that Kimchi & Jollof dropped their phone. While it’s been a good week for Apple devices surviving trips into saltwater, it’s better not to try it on your own iPhone.

Image creditsKimchi & Joloff