LEARN ABOUT AN IP-68 RATING

Crack the IP Code in Two Simple Steps

In modern life, numbers, codes and ratings get thrown at us at a blistering pace. Our cars come with EPA city, highway and combined ratings. Our refrigerators are sold with stickers declaring their Energy Star ratings. Our movies get rated up to five stars—or as many as two thumbs up with the modified-Ebert system of scoring. Nadia Comaneci got a perfect 10. So did Bo Derek.

With the various cases we carry to protect our valuables, it's all about the IP Rating. And, even before we give you the two simple steps to crack the IP code, perhaps we should let you know what those two little letters, IP, stand for. They signify "ingress protection." So what we're about to explain is the meaning of the ingress protection code.

Back in the day, P.T. Barnum had a hard time getting customers out of the freak show tent so he hung up a sign with an arrow that said "To the Egress." People, thinking that an "egress" was another exotic display, trundled out. They quickly realized that "egress" was just a fancy word for "exit." Similarly, "ingress" is a fancy word for entrance. Each LifeProof case comes with an IP Rating that tells buyers how well it keeps bad things from entering and messing up their iPhones.

As an astute observer, you've noticed that our rugged cases carry an IP-68 Rating. That's an ingress protection rating of 68. Let's take a look at each of those numbers and find out what they mean. Once you know what an IP-68 Rating means, we think you'll agree with us that our cases protect even better than the guards who tirelessly patrol the gates of Buckingham Palace.

The first number—the digit "6"—signifies the case's solid particle protection rating. The scale goes from 0-6. Six is the best. Devices get total protection against dust with our cases. Put a LifeProof protected iPhone or iPad in a box of talcum powder and stir the powder up for eight hours. The dust won't get past the case.

The second number refers to water protection and the level that is specified by the manufacturer. Again, the number 8 is the highest rating. And at LifeProof, that means our cases withstand water immersion to a depth of two meters or 6.6 feet for 60 minutes. We don't know about you, but none of us can hold our breath that long!

So here's what IP-68 means in the proverbial nutshell:

IP stands for ingress protection
6 means LifeProof cases protect against dust like a champ
8 means LifeProof cases protect against water down to two meters