klingonopera parent
The Samsung Galaxy S5 has a replaceable battery and is water resistant, it's definitely doable.
The Samsung S5 is rated IP67, resistant to 1 meter of water for 30 minutes. The iPhone 11 Pro is rated IP68, resistant to 4 meters of water for 30 minutes.
They're also four to five years apart, and IP67 was more or less top-of-the-line during the time when most smartphones still had replaceable batteries.
Also, this entire argument feels like it's getting way too much significance. It's definitely doable, even with IP68, there are tons of replaceable-battery-operated waterproof devices out there, this shouldn't be a reason.
> even with IP68, there are tons of replaceable-battery-operated waterproof devices out there.
Buyers would also rather keep the solid slab with no hatch form factor, than see the phone be 2mm thicker I assume. A lot of other devices don't have a size budget that is as extreme as a modern smartphone.
Put the other way: a slightly bigger phone (because of some separating compartment, gaskets, battery in a plastic cartridge and so on) could instead have been a solid slab with a slightly larger battery, so several hours extra battery time or higher performance at the same battery time.
How often do you go diving with your iPhone?
When new, before a couple of the clips on the rear cover get broken etc.