Ever since cellphones have been a factor, we’ve been dropping them in water. And whereas at this time’s iPhones are immune to splashes, dips, and dunks, there are nonetheless instances after they get too moist and the dreaded liquid-detection alert seems in your display screen.
For years, we’ve turned to a easy family staple when we have to save our iPhones from a liquid loss of life: a bag of rice. The strategy is decidedly low-tech. Simply pop your cellphone in a bag of rice, seal it up, and look ahead to a day or so. The concept is that the rice will draw the water out from contained in the cellphone earlier than it will possibly fry any inner elements. Individuals who have skilled waterlogged telephones swear by it, and there’s tons of anecdotal proof to point out that it does certainly work.
Nonetheless, researchers have been claiming for years that it’s all a fable and rice doesn’t really dry your cellphone quicker and will decelerate the method, leaving your logic board vulnerable to additional harm. And a brand new 2024 help doc from Apple really advises in opposition to utilizing rice to dry out your iPhone because it might make issues worse, as “doing so might enable small particles of rice to break your iPhone.” As an alternative, Apple suggests the next steps:
- Faucet your iPhone gently in opposition to your hand with the connector going through right down to take away extra liquid. Depart your iPhone in a dry space with some airflow.
- After no less than half-hour, attempt charging with a Lightning or USB-C cable or connecting an adjunct.
- For those who see the alert once more, there’s nonetheless liquid within the connector or beneath the pins of your cable. Depart your iPhone in a dry space with some airflow for as much as a day. You may attempt once more to cost or join an adjunct all through this era. It would take as much as 24 hours to totally dry.
- In case your cellphone has dried out however nonetheless isn’t charging, unplug the cable from the adapter and unplug the adapter from the wall (if attainable) after which join them once more.
Among the many don’ts, Apple additionally urges in opposition to drying your iPhone with an exterior warmth supply or compressed air, or inserting a “overseas object,” similar to a cotton swab or a paper towel, into the Lightning or USB-C port.
Granted, iPhones have been in a position to face up to submersion in water at a most depth of 6 meters (about 20 ft) as much as half-hour for the reason that iPhone 12, so chances are high you haven’t needed to fear about liquid harm for some time. However in the event you ever do, simply go away the rice within the cupboard.
