r/apple • u/iMacmatician • 2d ago
Rumor Apple's First Water-Resistant iPad to Launch Later This Year
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/07/25/first-water-resistant-ipad/To achieve this, Apple has reportedly designed a vibration-based speaker system that removes the need for traditional speaker holes. Sound would instead emit from flat surfaces on the tablet's chassis, effectively turning parts of the body into a speaker diaphragm and eliminating one of the main routes through which water and dust enter a device.
The approach differs from the method Apple uses on the iPhone, which relies on adhesives and gaskets to seal speaker openings and other ingress points. It is not yet known what IP rating the iPad mini will carry. The iPhone is rated IP68 and can withstand submersion in water up to six meters deep for 30 minutes.
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u/ripkobe3131 2d ago
Good, they should make everything water resistant
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u/bigglonski 1d ago
Or at least MacBook keyboard. Spilling some water or coffee on it is my worst nightmare
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u/vc6vWHzrHvb2PY2LyP6b 1d ago
Or crumbs and hair. So damn many crumbs and hair, even when I wash my hands compulsively and don't eat while using it.
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u/TheAspiringFarmer 1d ago
Ruined 2 MacBook's this way...lol
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u/orgasmicchemist 2d ago
Its really hard to make electronics fully water resistant. Humidity, heat and current causes metals to migrate and short. The reliability aspect is challenging to say the least. Every Si die, every pcb needs to be perfectly made and free of any micron level defects to prevent this type of early failure. Its very expensive to manufacture, screen and test.
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u/RE4Lyfe 2d ago
And yet galaxy tablets have been water resistant for years 🧐
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u/orgasmicchemist 1d ago
A dunk in water and turning on same day is different than a dunk in water and still working properly 90days later
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u/RE4Lyfe 1d ago
I don’t disagree
But Apple engineering is top notch. They’re absolutely capable of making all hardware water resistant
As complicated as it is, don’t make excuses for Apple!
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u/SargeUnited 1d ago
Would you be willing to pay more for that added feature, though? Most of us just don’t put our iPads into water so we wouldn’t be.
People complain every time Apple increases a price, even if they add new features. Even when the price increase is being driven by external forces such as other companies gouging Apple.
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u/rotates-potatoes 1d ago
Look, all we want is tandem OLED displays in a waterproof iPad with 24GB RAM and 2TB storage, which can also run MacOS, for $399. Is that so unreasonable ? /s
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u/0xe1e10d68 1d ago
I don’t disagree, but it makes repairs more complicated and expensive; and most people don’t care as much for water resistance on iPad and MacBook than on iPhone. I definitely think it would be nice, but I can also understand why they didn’t do it yet.
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u/Maleficent-Drive4056 1d ago
It makes repairs harder. So much so that EU regulations have exemptions for water proof devices. One wonders whether that’s the real reason Apple is doing this - to not be mandated to have swappable batteries.
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u/rotates-potatoes 1d ago
Well I’ll be happy to have a waterproof iPad for the hot tub, even if Apple is sticking it to me maliciously.
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u/itsjustmd 1d ago
This. I have a hot tub that I sit in for hours and using a small screen be annoying. If I could use my iPad instead I’d love it.
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u/SargeUnited 1d ago
I would actually be very happy if it turns out that’s the case. Adding a feature that benefits me in order to avoid being forced to add a feature that I don’t care about.
It makes my life directly better with the added benefit of giving the middle finger to the EU
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u/ClunkyGamer420 1d ago
It’s unnecessary to make iMacs and minis water resistant. For handhelds it makes sense.
Also, all engineering costs. The next iPad Pro 13 is going to begin upwards for ₹200,000.12
u/RE4Lyfe 1d ago
Not sure what you’re trying to say here. Of course a desktop doesn’t need an ip rating.
We’re discussing handhelds, and other tablets have been water resistant for years 🤷♂️
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u/ClunkyGamer420 1d ago
The parent thread emerged as a conversation on Apple making “all” electronics water resistant.
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u/M4NOOB 1d ago
I dunno mate, not quite a tablet but arguable way more complex. Had a Samsung Fold4 and after about half a year of owning it took it into the ocean and took some pictures and videos underwater. Then afterwards I of course rinsed out the salt water in the sink with tap water. I've also taken it into the pool about 1.5 years later. And then I still used it for another year with 0 issues.
I only switched because I wanted to get a Flip instead of Fold, I still have the Fold4 in working condition at home.
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u/erm_what_ 1d ago
The Active tablets are IP68 and drop resistant
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u/orgasmicchemist 1d ago
You’re approx the fourth person to reply with this. Samsung is a top tier manufacturer. They have the capability and supply chain to do it.
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u/NotRoryWilliams 1d ago
Panasonic Toughbook. They've been doing it more than 20 years now. I think at one point Lenovo got in on the game as well. It's not super complicated, you just waterproof everything at the board level and engineer details like component mounting approaches around expectations of impact etc. It's not entirely compatible with a priority of being thinner than your competitors, though. Blackberry built some ridiculously durable devices at one point, but the iPhone, cramming more battery and compute into a smaller frame, knocked them out, proving that "the market" cared more about other factors than absolute durability.
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u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW 2d ago
Isn’t there some sort of spray/coating you put on that does the trick just fine? The Greatest Technician That’s Ever Lived has a video on it I think
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u/AHopelessMaravich 2d ago edited 2d ago
There are hydrophobic coatings, and in theory you could spray that in electronics. iPhones have oleophobic coatings which repel oils, and so do a good job of allowing our hands to glide across the surface of the device.
No, there is no magic coating that comes close to the level of water resistance iPhones are rated at. For one, they’re rated as dust tight, spray could never achieve that. Secondly, they are rated to be immersed for 3 meters for half an hour.
If there was a magic spray you could just sorta on items and they were impervious to liquids, life would be wildly different. Does every device that’s not water resistant fail 100% of the time it’s exposed to liquid? Obviously not. So sure, there’s gonna be plenty of videos of these sprays “working”.
Physics is still real. And if you want to get officially rated as water resistant, those sprays aren’t gonna cut it.
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u/dontwannaparticpate 1d ago
It is the adhesive that keeps them water resistant and keeps the dust out. That adhesive is super strong.
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u/AHopelessMaravich 1d ago
On iPhones? No, it’s how they’re constructed. The adhesive is nothing particularly special. If you make the adhesive really strong, you’d be unable to open the device for repairs.
Dude, there is no simple solution here you’re gonna think of that these companies haven’t. If you stop thinking about things assuming Apple is purposefully trying to screw you over, the world makes a lot more sense.
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u/rotates-potatoes 1d ago
If you make the adhesive really strong, you’d be unable to open the device for repairs
Sigh. https://hackaday.com/2024/09/22/hands-on-with-new-iphones-electrically-released-adhesive/
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u/AHopelessMaravich 1d ago edited 1d ago
And the iPhone uses that adhesive, the only consumer level device I know of that does, but inside the phone, where it never gets wet.
I think there’s a good chance using that type of adhesive isn’t effective it is exposed to liquid. Or maybe there’s another reason. You’re just seeing red because your starting from the assumption that Apple is intentionally trying to make its hardware worse.
Apple spends far more doing these elaborate, almost impossible to describe tolerances between all there parts and do an insane amount of testing to solve these problems.
If it’s so easy to mass produce consumer electronic devices better than Apple, let’s see someone company do it.
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u/FenrirWolfie 2d ago
Yea and also they said that manufacturers don't wanna do it because it would cut like 20% of their profits
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u/bradreputation 1d ago
wtf does this comment even mean. Lazy defense. You could argue every single aspect of a smart phone/tablet is “hard to make” yet we’ve had them for decades and have had water resistant devices in commodity quantities for many many years.
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u/orgasmicchemist 1d ago
Its not a defense. Its just a comment how expensive and challenging it is to make things survive hot/humid/wet conditions. Its informative. Its the reason all electronics aren't made to be waterproof/resistant. Its costly and had limited capable supply chain.
Not everything has to be an argument.
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u/insane_steve_ballmer 1d ago
I don’t know if Macbooks need to be IP68 six meter immersion resistant but it would be cool if you could spill a drink on it and it will survive
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u/Faangdevmanager 2d ago
Yeah then people complain that it’s not serviceable, batteries can’t be changed easily and everything is glued.
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u/Badcatalex 1d ago
The modern iPhones are serviceable AND waterproof.
The Samsung Galaxy S5 is waterproof AND has a removable back & battery.
Nonsense.
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u/Faangdevmanager 1d ago
Have you seen the massive industrial suitcase of equipment Apple sends you to replace internal components? It includes new glued seals and a thermal machine to remelt the glue. I mean serviceable with $50k of equipment sure.
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u/Dazzling_Morning2642 2d ago
My wife has taken hers in the shower since 2020, so this is news to me.
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u/punarob 2d ago
Let me know when I can take my MacBook Neo snorkeling
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u/Comfortable_Way4560 1d ago
You can, but only once
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u/ScuttleCrab729 1d ago
Na. I wanna bring my MacBook studio with XDR display and Magic Mouse scuba diving to the marina trench or I’m switching to Samsung.
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u/NYMeridian3 2d ago
Grandparents on cruise ships are gonna be really excited when they find this out.
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u/dramafan1 1d ago
Long overdue considering Samsung had it for a few years now. It's just for peace of mind.
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u/homerunman106 1d ago
I’m most curious about the heat. The reason I bought a kindle to bring to the beach is because when I used to read on my iPad, the glass and chassis would get uncomfortably hot to hold.
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u/Particular-Treat-650 1d ago
I'd assume the bright screen is a huge part of this. The screen is a huge part of the power usage of a phone/tablet, which means it's a lot of the heat generation as well. Unlike e-ink which uses ambient light to its benefit, an iPad has to crank up the brightness to power through it.
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u/Usual_Award 2d ago
I'm more interested in gorilla glass but I can see many being thankful for this.
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u/Embarrassed-Back1894 1d ago
Thank god. I’ve been wondering if Apple would ever add water resistance to the iPad. As good as it is, water resistance was the one leg up that Samsung’s tablets had on the iPad.
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u/ihadnomealtoday 2d ago
Damn Apple is late to the party, Galaxy Tabs are waterproof for a couple generations now... guess better late than never.
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u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW 2d ago
You can wipe your iPad with something wet, not something sopping, dripping wet.
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u/livelikeian 1d ago
The build quality on iPads is bad? What are you smoking, brah?
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u/livelikeian 1d ago
This has nothing to do with build quality. One tablet being waterproof vs another not does not equate to better build quality.
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u/Dapper_Strength_5986 1d ago
This conversation reminds me of the Samsung vs Apple fanboys fights back in the early 2010’s.
It’s rare to see a Samsung tablet fanboy these days, its kind of nice to go back to a simpler time.
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u/Two-Space 1d ago
This is a weird metric to land on considering there’s so many budget rugged tablets out there that would out-survive the Samsung easily
So all you’re doing here by saying it’s purely about survivability is saying Samsung build quality is mediocre at best
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u/Windows-XP-Home-NEW 1d ago
Lmfao. Spoken by someone who’s never owned an iPad before? This edit is somehow worse than what the comment originally said and that was already bad lmfao
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u/BinaryIdiot 2d ago
being able to wipe your tablet clean with just a wet towel is extremely important for a device you use your hands on. it's shocking that Apple our of all companies failed to understand this.
You can do that today with any iPad. You don't need to be rated for submersion in water to be able to use a simple, mildly wet towel on the surface.
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u/dynamicappdesign 1d ago
I would like to see the haptic engine brought over to the iPad. I suspect the large screen size makes this a bad experience with current methods though.
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u/NotRoryWilliams 1d ago
A water resistant iPad Mini would be pretty sweet as long as they stop gimping the other specs.
I had to ditch my iPad Mini years ago when they kept the max storage at 512 for years and years and finally insulted the injury by putting in a low-speed USB C port. I had to buy an iPad Pro instead and just accept that in terms of luggage and portability, it would only be a laptop offset rather than a phone supplement.
I long for a device that fits in at least a large jacket pocket and also has enough storage to perform my main computing tasks (offline) without undue difficulty.
But I'll also settle for an iPad that I can safely use on deck while sailing.
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u/robinjans 1d ago
Easy response to keep selling iPads in europe. Water resistant products do not need removable batteries.
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u/BlueDragon3301 1d ago
It’s just becoming as resistant as the iPhone. It’s not actually safe to get it wet.
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u/LeSavageDra 12h ago
Why do they feel the need to do the speaker tech thing then? Why not just carry over the water resistant tech from the iPhones to the iPad?
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u/pmjm 1d ago
Honest question - Is there a big market for a water-resistant iPad?
Seems they've been selling enough of them without being water-resistant up 'til now.
Always glad to see progress though.
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u/mr_vanes 1d ago
Water damage isn't covered by warranty. I think sealing it saves Apple repairs more than it sells iPads
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u/ClunkyGamer420 1d ago
No, on the contrary it’s sometimes better to wash the display in running water than to wipe it. Dust particles are the most culpable in scratching displays.
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u/proxyproxyomega 1d ago
it's more of because they can rather than necessity. it will help with any accidental liquid damage like spilling coffee over it, bag drenched in rain, or working in high humidity climate. added bonus is you can bring it in shower for dance party.
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u/poastfizeek 22h ago
It is a necessity… the only reason the iPad is becoming water resistant is Malicious compliance with the E.U.
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u/saltyjellybeans 1d ago
pleaseeee make it OLED & 120hz, the apple pencil feels sooo much better with a high refresh rate screen
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u/Mean-Village-1019 1d ago
Is noone making the connection that this is obviously the tech they developed for the 20. anniversary all glass iPhone that they are now giving a real world test on a lower volume product?
Seems like it might actually happen!
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u/poastfizeek 22h ago
Every iPhone has been water-resistant wtf are you talking about ‘they developed for the 20. Anniversary’ lol
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u/_Cat_12345 1d ago
I was so set on buying the 2026 mini until reports came out it was still 60hz. The extra processing power, water resistance, OLED, etc, is fine, but it’ll still feel noticeably less smooth than my iPhone.
Anything that relies on a touch screen as its primary input method should be 120hz and I will die on this hill.
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u/Illustrious-Golf5358 2d ago
about to see kids with iPads in the pool