A year later, an iPhone accidentally dropped on a lake in Taiwan has recovered, after the biggest drought in more than 50 years has removed the water line enough to detect it.
In March 2020, a man identified on the Bao Fei 1 commune’s Facebook group as “Chen” lost his iPhone 11 Pro Max while paddling on Sun Moon Lake in Taiwan. The man was carrying the iPhone in a waterproof plastic bag around his neck, but lost it after falling into the water several times.
At the time, Taiwan News reports a friend who was optimistic and told the man he would see the iPhone again “within a year.”
In early April, Chen was informed that his iPhone had been found. The lake had dried enough for the iPhone and the bag to be easily visible on the dried lake bed.
Holding on to what is believed to have been Taiwan’s worst drought in more than 50 years, it was a rare occasion for the lake to dry out enough to see the iPhone in its location. Residents of the locality informed the man that the water had not been completely reduced between the ages of 50 and 60.
Shortly after Chen re-acquired the iPhone, the water returned to the lake.
Although the waterproof bag was heavily soiled, the iPhone itself was apparently perfectly intact. After recharging it, Chen said all the functions of the iPhone were normal.
“I can only say that the waterproof case for the iPhone is really fantastic. There is no water,” Chen said in the post. “I’m so glad I got my iPhone back after losing it for so long.”
Over the years there have been numerous stories about people recovering iPhones lost in bodies of water and for long periods of time.
In late March, a woman recovered her iPhone from an icy lake in Saskatchewan after losing it for 30 days, fully functional after being rescued with a magnet. In early March, a diver found an iPhone 11 at the bottom of a lake in British Columbia after nearly six months of diving.
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