THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A WATER RESISTANT AND A WATER PROOF CASE

Two Little Words, Proof and Resistant, Can Mean Life or Death for Your Device!

Juliet tells Romeo that, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet" in Shakespeare's ageless romance, Romeo and Juliet. According to the Bard, with the wonderful scent of a rose in bloom, labels don't matter.

That philosophy may work for flowers, but not with the case protecting your iPhone or iPad. There's a huge, distinctive and important difference between a case that is water resistant and one that is water proof.

Those of us who were paying attention and not passing notes to our neighbors, will probably remember learning in middle-school Earth science class that 70% of the planet is covered by water. That leaves just 30% percent dry land. And, when you consider snow banks and rainstorm puddles, the dry land isn't always that "dry.”

So, considering those odds, it's highly likely that your iPhone or iPad will come in intimate contact with that 70% of the Earth's surface that's covered by water. Further, if we were betting people, we’d put our money on those little bodies of water like the toilet, the tub and the spilled jumbo java - but we digress.

The tragic occasion of a dunked phone or tablet is not the time to learn the difference between a water resistant and water proof case. If you occasionally use your device when it's raining or snowing outside, a water resistant case is designed to handle it. However, the moment your iPhone gets submerged in water, you desperately need a water proof case to protect your investment—it acts literally as an underwater iPhone case. And, LifeProof cases are good down to 6.6 feet!

Whether your phone falls out of your pocket when you're supervising kids swimming in a backyard pool or trying to hail a cab and simultaneously make a call standing on a busy New York City street covered in deep puddles of water, having your phone protected by a waterproof iPhone case is a brilliant idea.

For those of us who are members of the USA Today generation and like our information in bite-sized bullet points, here's the skinny:

The Earth is 70% water
Given those odds, your iPhone or iPad is likely to get submerged
Water resistant cases don't protect against submersion
Waterproof cases protect underwater
Waterproof cases guard your investment
LifeProof cases protect down to 6.6 feet