A new report out of the Korea Herald, citing several sources, say the next iPhone -- iPhone 8, 10th-anniversary iPhone, or whatever courageous name Apple decides to call it -- will feature a water and dust resistance rating of IP68, which is the highest level of weather resistance for a mobile device.
This is a jump from the iPhone 7's IP67 rating. That means the next iPhone will be able to handle being underwater as deep as five feet for up to 30 minutes. The source speaking to Korean Herald calls it a "drastic upgrade," but it's worth noting, however, that this is really nothing new to the industry, since Samsung's 2016 flagships already have IP68 ratings. The same sources from Korea Herald say the Galaxy S8 will have the same water and dust resistance.
LG's G6, meanwhile, will also have water and dust resistance, though it's unclear right now what that phone's IP rating will be (though it'll likely be the same IP68, since LG recently unveiled a mid-tier phone with that same rating at CES). The news from LG means, however, that the company will finally ditch the removable battery feature.
Water-proofing for phones is something I've never really needed -- I'm not a beach person and I'm super careful with my phone around the toilet -- but I can see why this is a major addition to some. Samsung is said to be expanding the water-proofing adoption to even its budget tier of phones like the A and J series.
Expect Chinese phones to follow suit in 2017.
