A rare look inside the fitness lab where Apple tortures its products

Apple puts its products through many tests during the development process, aimed at ensuring that they are durable and reliable even in challenging conditions. The company tests at least 10,000 iPhones before launch in an effort to cover all bases.

It’s not often that the iPhone maker allows outsiders into its labs, but Apple invited some of its WWDC 2025 attendees to visit one to see for themselves the conditions it’s waiting for its gadgets to come to life…

To be clear, this is not the first time Apple has allowed outsiders to look at one of its fitness testing facilities. MKBHD last year caught up with their tour, and shared some videos from it. But Counterpoint this year provided a detailed description of what those tests entail.

They fall into four categories:

• Environmental
• Water
• Impact
• Vibration

Environmental

These tests are aimed at replicating the climate challenges faced by devices used in 175 countries around the world.

We’ve seen the salt exposure test run for 100 hours, high light, and dust exposure from the Arizona desert to analyze what happens when fine sand particles get into the iPhone’s speakers or charging port. Other experiments in the case of AirPods include producing synthetic versions of sweat and earwax. These tests have also been redone to include other device usage data that Apple has access to, highlighting the labs’ complex efforts to adapt to changing conditions.

Water

Protection against water and dust is measured by IP ratings, standards set by the electronics industry with specific conditions for each.

For example, the iPhone 16 Pro has an IP68 rating, the highest available. This means that it should not show any dust ingress in any test, and should continue to function normally after being submerged in water up to a depth of six meters for one hour.

Apple’s water testing starts off slow and ramps up.

The IPX chamber test begins with a basic roof leak test to simulate rain and basic water penetration. This is followed by uniform water pressure using jets around all corners of the product. Once a product passes this test, it qualifies for an IPX5 rating.

Then comes the high-pressure water that blows through the range, giving the product an IPX6 rating, and finally, a pressurized tank that simulates water depth gives the product IPX7 and IPX8 ratings for its successful submersion up to one meter and six meters, respectively.

IP ratings are only related to dust and water, but Apple’s tests also include other liquid hazards that are commonly encountered, such as sodas, juices, sunscreen, and perfumes.

Lower the test

YouTubers may do a small number of unscientific drop tests for fun and spectacle, but dropping your iPhone in the real world is a very different story. Each drop is different, depending on the height, the object it lands on, and the precise angle of impact.

Apple aims to replicate this large variety of fall hazards during its testing.

To get closer to real life situations, Apple has developed a robot that drops devices at different angles and even on different surfaces, including particles, granite and asphalt boards. In addition, each download is analyzed by an application accessed by Apple engineers.

Vibration

Although the danger is not so obvious, the iPhone needs to be able to survive things like sitting on the seat of a motorcycle that is traveling in rough terrain. Also, the number of variables involved is huge, so Apple’s tests aim to expose devices to a wide range of frequencies.

These frequencies are simulated with a vibration table to create different vibration zones and impacts that the product can experience during transport or other real-world conditions, including for different motorcycle manufacturers. The vibration table had products attached to it for a long time and was subjected to different frequencies.

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Framegrab: Apple