Here's a question from a reader:
I'd like to make my iPhone waterproof, but the last thing I want to do is stick it in some horrible rubberized case. Is there some other option?
Yes, there is, but it's not cheap, you're going to have to live without your iPhone for a few days, it's going to cost you, and it's not 100 percent perfect.
I'm thinking of a treatment called Liquipel. Liquipel is described as a 'super-hydrophobic nano-coating which bonds to all internal and external components of a device on the molecular level' and is 1000X thinner than a human hair, which means that it "does not affect the look, feel, or performance of your electronic device in any way".
It requires a special process to apply it to a device. You have to send your device to Liquipel who place your iPhone a 'Liquipel Machine.' This 'Machine' creates a vacuum around your device, and then a special formula is introduced as a vapor. The vapor permeates the entire device inside and out, and the Liquipel coating bonds to the device on a molecular level, leaving your device 'watersafe.'
Liquipel can treat all sorts of device -- iPhones, iPads, along with a handful of HTC, Motorola and Samsung devices -- and the price for the iPhone starts at $59. Liquipel offers what is called 'Level III' protection -- the best available -- for the iPhone, and this offers "protection from brief, heavy, accidental water contact". Liquipel describe heavy as "things like a sudden torrential downpour or even a quick surprise push into a pool".
Liquipel makes no mention of whether the coating voids warranties.
Even with this protection, if my iPhone got a soaking, my heart would do quite a few wrenching somersaults.
