How to get water out of your iPhone speakers

Apple iPhones have consistently come with an IP68 rating for nearly a decade. This rating indicates that the phone is water resistant up to a certain pressure and depth, which is another way of stating that the phone can get splashed or submerged to a certain extent before there’s a chance of damage. This rating is achieved by sealing all water and dust ingress points with a waterproof lining. 

This protection, however, falls a bit short at the speaker grill. This is because a speaker must move air to create sound, and the diaphragm must be able to move air freely for the best sound. Now water can and does enter the speaker grill every time your phone gets wet or is submerged, but usually, the water can’t progress into the phone as the speaker itself is designed to be water resistant. 

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However, water in the speaker grill can impact the audio quality coming from your speaker as the water impedes the free flow of air. Thankfully, this water can easily be ejected from your iPhones. Here’s how!

Give it a vigorous shake

Just following your instincts and vigorously shaking the phone to dislodge the water is often enough for the speaker to start functioning again. The water doesn’t normally penetrate too deep and usually only gets stuck because of surface tension around the tiny grill. A vigorous shake can overcome this tension and release the water.

Play a loud noise

For particularly stubborn water droplets, you can also play a loud noise and dislodge water droplets. You simply need to pick a tone that causes the most movement of the speaker diaphragm. Plenty of apps, shortcuts, and even YouTube videos are available for this. Our personal pick is fixmyspeakers.com. Simply head to the site via your iPhone’s browser and tap the on-screen icon to play a loud tone. This tone will help dislodge any trapped water.

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Please remember to not plug in your headphones or connect wireless audio devices as the tone needs to be played from your phone’s speaker. Set the speaker volume to maximum for the best effect. You could also shake the phone vigorously — while maintaining a good grip on it — and have the noise play in the background to increase the chances of the water coming out.

If none of these steps work, simply wait a while for the water to evaporate on its own, which should happen in a few hours. Do not place the phone in direct sunlight for extended periods or in front of a heater or blow dryer or other heat source. This will only damage the phone further.

If the water still doesn’t come out after sufficient time has elapsed, you might want to book an appointment with your nearest authorised repair centre.