A new extraordinary event has been added to the unusual occurrences of smartphones falling from great heights. An iPhone 17 Pro, dropped from approximately 100,000 feet, or 30.6 kilometers, in northern Sweden, continued to function. However, this incident was not an accident.
iPhone 17 Pro Dropped from 30,607 Meters
Phone case manufacturer RhinoShield and aerospace company Sent Into Space tested the durability of the iPhone 17 Pro with a special experiment. The trial also broke a Guinness World Record. The test was conducted on June 24 in Kiruna, Sweden. The iPhone 17 Pro was attached to a high-altitude balloon and ascended to a height of 30,607 meters.
This altitude is more than three times the typical cruising altitude of passenger planes. After reaching the designated height, the phone was released without any parachute or protective capsule. The device also lacked any heating system to maintain its temperature during the flight. According to Guinness World Record rules, the case used had to make contact with the ground before the phone during the fall to protect the device.
The phone remained airborne for approximately 25 minutes until it reached the ground. During the fall, the temperature reportedly dropped to minus 60 degrees Celsius. Despite this, the iPhone 17 Pro showed no external signs of damage after landing in a remote natural area of Sweden.
Finding the Phone Took Over Five Hours
The real challenge began after the phone landed. The device's tracking system narrowed the search area to approximately two kilometers. However, the team had to search for over five hours to find the iPhone. When the phone was located, Guinness officials checked its condition. Inspections confirmed that the iPhone 17 Pro could be turned on and off, make calls, and take photos.
This experiment officially entered the Guinness World Record category for "highest mobile phone drop onto natural terrain with a phone case". The iPhone 17 Pro used in the test was protected by RhinoShield's special AirX case. The company states that the case's design is inspired by airbags used in cars and the shock-absorbing structure found in sports shoes.
Previously, there have been incidents where phones survived falls from airplanes. In 2024, an iPhone that fell from an Alaska Airlines plane at an altitude of approximately 4,800 meters was found in working condition. However, this latest test stands apart from previous examples due to it being a controlled experiment and the extreme altitude reached.
Source: https://www.techspot.com/news/113651-iphone-17-pro-fell-100000-feet-survived-intact.html
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