There are liquid sensors in the ports, and if a drop of water gets on them, they will turn red and Apple will refuse to honor your warranty. Apple claims the iPhone is waterproof to 6 meters for 30 minutes, but if you put your phone in one inch of water for one second, your warranty is void.
It's definitely not a waterproofing issue. They have waterproof lightning socket with exposed contacts, therefore they can make 3.5mm one. Apple's rivals — Samsung and Sony both have examples of waterproof phones with 3.5mm jack.
There's a much more mundane explanation - waterproofing. Lightning and USB-C connectors can both be made intrinsically waterproof up to IPx7, while the 3.5mm jack can't. Waterproofing is a key point of differentiation for recent flagship phones. An iPhone 7 will survive a dip in a toilet bowl or a pint of beer, but an iPhone 6 probably won't.
> That is because devices are increasingly able to withstand getting wet.
> All Apple devices from the iPhone 12 onwards are able to withstand immersion up to a depth of six metres, for up to half an hour.
> But with cost-of-living pressures driving growth in the global second-hand mobile market, it is likely that many people will need advice on what to do - and what not to - with a soggy smartphone for some time yet.
Apple has (had?) a water sensor in the iPhones to detect that the phone was in water. Didn't break anything, just signaled that there was water contact.
Will iPhones no longer be waterproof? I've actually dropped my iPhone in the ocean a number of times (just in tidal zones, never in deep water) and have washed it off with tap water. It stills works perfectly fine a few years later.
I once tested that with a waterproof phone in clear water, can't recall which phone it was tho...
Don't feel brave enough to try it with my iPhone 8, even tho it supposedly is waterproof as well - my SO once tested it with a spilled drink...
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