Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 20,747
iPhone 13 found and re-united : I was hunting at a local beach this morning, doing a posse-hunt for a lady's gold ring. I wasn't able to find her ring. Because a foot of sand has come into the inter-tidal zone in the last few days. But the lone signal I WAS able to get, was this cell-phone. It was nearly a foot deep. But alas, no ring 
The phone was in soft soupy wet sand. So I naturally assumed it would be waterlogged toast. After air-compressing out all the orifices, and letting it dry out today, I decided to see what would happen if I tried to power it on. To my surprise, it flickered as if it were trying to come to life . But battery too dead to do anything but flicker.
I compared it to iPhone evolution guide pix, and found out it's the latest model out. Over $1k to buy a new one, right ? And used ones selling for $700 or whatever. And non-functional dead ones can sell for $100 and up, just for parts alone.
I was able to get a friend's apple chord to put a 15 min. charge on it. Then when we hit the power button, it sprung to life ! Giving an alarm signal beep beep beep. And a message saying "Lost iPhone, please call me " And a phone #.
We called the guy. He was so stoked that someone had his phone. He had lost it ~3 days earlier, and just assumed it had been washed out to sea. They had spent quite a bit of time in the dark with flashlights, trying to find it. And thought it was gone forever. But *just in case*, he had sent the "lost-phone" alert message, to pop-up if anyone powered it on.
Turns out these iPhone 13's are water resistant. And boy are they ! I can't believe this thing survived and could be powered on. Quite a testament to the quality.
The fellow sent me $20 by paypal to cover shipping. And I'll be mailing it to his home in Utah.
The phone was in soft soupy wet sand. So I naturally assumed it would be waterlogged toast. After air-compressing out all the orifices, and letting it dry out today, I decided to see what would happen if I tried to power it on. To my surprise, it flickered as if it were trying to come to life . But battery too dead to do anything but flicker.
I compared it to iPhone evolution guide pix, and found out it's the latest model out. Over $1k to buy a new one, right ? And used ones selling for $700 or whatever. And non-functional dead ones can sell for $100 and up, just for parts alone.
I was able to get a friend's apple chord to put a 15 min. charge on it. Then when we hit the power button, it sprung to life ! Giving an alarm signal beep beep beep. And a message saying "Lost iPhone, please call me " And a phone #.
We called the guy. He was so stoked that someone had his phone. He had lost it ~3 days earlier, and just assumed it had been washed out to sea. They had spent quite a bit of time in the dark with flashlights, trying to find it. And thought it was gone forever. But *just in case*, he had sent the "lost-phone" alert message, to pop-up if anyone powered it on.
Turns out these iPhone 13's are water resistant. And boy are they ! I can't believe this thing survived and could be powered on. Quite a testament to the quality.
The fellow sent me $20 by paypal to cover shipping. And I'll be mailing it to his home in Utah.
Too bad about the ladies ring, maybe you can find it before some pirate comes along and adds it to his treasure chest. That lost phone feature is pretty cool. I just had to upgrade my phone, wonder if Androids have that feature. Good luck on your return. Mark
