A iPhone 17 Pro has survived a free fall from 30,607 meters high after being lifted into the stratosphere by a balloon and launched over an uninhabited area in northern Sweden. The phone hit the ground protected only by a conventional case and was still intact and working when the team in charge of recovering it managed to locate it.
The test was carried out on June 24 near Kirunain Sweden, by the case manufacturer RHINOSHIELD and the British aerospace company Feel Into Space. The result was recognized last week by Guinness World Records such as the fall of a mobile phone protected with a case from a greater height onto a natural surface.
The iPhone was raised by a high-altitude balloon above the vicinity of the Esrange Space Center and then released without using any type of parachute. The 30.6 km it traveled during the fall are more than three times the altitude at which a commercial plane usually flies.
A commercial cover for 63 euros
RHINOSHIELD’s goal was to take its case to the extreme AirXa model that any user can buy and that was not developed specifically for testing. The basic version is currently sold in Spain by 62.99 euros and is available for different iPhone models and some phones Samsung.
One of its peculiarities is a double-layer structure with air chambers designed to disperse and absorb the energy of impacts. RHINOSHIELD explains that its design is inspired in the airbags used in automobiles and in the air cushioning systems present in some sneakers. Thus, the case incorporates an air chamber that runs around the entire perimeter of the phone and an internal structure designed to reduce the force that ends up being transmitted to the device. According to the company’s laboratory tests, The system can isolate about 80% of the impact.
Another unusual element is that the AirX is made with a single materiala thermoplastic elastomer developed by RHINOSHIELD, which facilitates its complete recycling.
The cold and pressure were also a problem
The impact against the ground was not the only challenge that the phone had to overcome during the experiment. At more than 30 kilometers high, temperatures and atmospheric pressure are very different from those on the surfaceso both the case and the iPhone itself had to withstand several hours exposed to unusual conditions.
RHINOSHIELD performed before release different tests at subzero temperatures and low pressure to check how the phone and case reacted. The company thus prepared the device for the balloon ascent before facing the fall that would end up setting the record.
Finding the iPhone after the impact ended up being almost as difficult as getting it to survive. The test was carried out over a large uninhabited area to avoid risks and the monitoring system only allowed the search area to be reduced to about two kilometers.
The team finally needed more than five hours traveling the land near Kiruna until locating the phone. When they found it, The iPhone 17 Pro was unharmed and still working after having traveled in free fall more than 30 kilometers.