Apple is dreaming about an iPhone with the Mac Pro’s cheese grater design

When Apple introduced the new Mac Pro back in 2019, the internet had a field day mocking its cheese grater design. While Apple says that the design maximizes airflow and also helps with structural integrity, it’s the uncanny similarity with the kitchen tool that comes to mind first when you come across the machine. Well, it appears that Apple might bring this design to more products in the feature, with iPhones being one of them. 

Image Credit: YouTube / Phone Industry
Image: Apple / USPTO

As per a patent titled Housing Construction filed before the USPTO and spotted first by PatentlyApple, Apple is considering the 3D lattice pattern of the Mac Pro for iPhones as well. The reason cited in the patent description is familiar – optimize air flow, offer better protection for the internal components, and of course, be pleasing to look at. However, the latter part about ‘looking pleasing’ is up for debate. Here’s what the patent application says:

The components of an electronic device, for example a housing of an electronic device, may include three-dimensional structures having features tailored to the specific purposes for which they are employed. The components of an electronic device may be configured to provide physical support or protection to other components of the electronic device, provide for thermal transmission, provide for airflow through or around the electronic device, or provide for one or more various other purposes. Additionally, the components of the electronic device may be designed to provide a unique and pleasing look and feel for a user.
In simple words, Apple wants to replicate the ‘inspired by nature’ lattice pattern of the Mac Pro’s panel for roughly the same set of benefits on the iPhone as well. And oh, the patent diagrams also envision the same aesthetic makeover for a trash can-style Mac Pro. Yes, the same filthy expensive cylindrical Mac that was an upgradability nightmare. However, Apple is not limiting itself to metal when it comes to replicating the 3D lattice design on iPhones, as the patent also explores options such as ceramic, glass, amorphous metal, polycarbonate, and even a combination of the aforementioned materials.
cheese grater iphone patent apple 1
Image: Apple / USPTO
Coming back to the cheese grater-esque aesthetic overhaul for the iPhone, the patent diagrams give us a look at what it might look like. Unlike the Mac Pro, the lattice pattern will be used on the back as well as the side rails. It adds that the ‘light weight and stiffness of the three-dimensional structure can also provide a user with a pleasing experience when handling the device.’ And in case you’re wondering, yes, the patent also describes a 3D-design metal sheet in multiple color options.
cheese grater iphone patent apple 2
Image: Apple / USPTO
As for the manufacturing process, Apple might go with 3D printing to achieve the desired cheese grater aesthetics on iPhones. And before your imaginations go wild, do keep in mind that this is a patent application we’re talking about, which means things are very much in the concept stage and won’t necessarily make it out as a commercially available product!

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We could see batteries used as haptic engines in a future Apple Watch

Apple keeps working to improve every single one of its products. The company strives to give its users an excellent experience, great features, and fantastic products while it takes special considerations to help the environment. Some of these new ideas are good enough to become patents, and that’s exactly what we’re talking about right now. It seems that Cupertino is already looking for new ways to make future Apple Watch models thinner, and this patent explains how they could achieve it if they give another function to its batteries.

A new patent explains how Apple wishes to make its future Apple Watch models thinner. The first step would consist of removing the haptic feedback engine found in several Apple Watch models. However, this feature is crucial to achieving a satisfying user experience, and removing it may not be such a smart move. Hence, Apple could be trying to make the battery inside its smartwatches double up as a new haptic engine, as it describes a new “moving battery component” that would provide haptic feedback.

“An electronic device includes an enclosure having a transparent cover defining a touch-sensitive surface, a display positioned within the enclosure and below the transparent cover, and a haptic device configured to produce a haptic output along the touch-sensitive surface. The haptic device may include a battery element electrically coupled to the display, a magnetic element, and a coil assembly fixed with respect to the enclosure and configured to induce an oscillatory movement of the battery element parallel to the display to produce the haptic output. In other examples, the coil assembly may be coupled to the battery element and the first and second magnetic elements may be fixed with respect to the enclosure.”

Removing the haptic engine from a future Apple Watch would also allow Apple to give its users larger batteries, therefore better battery life. Whatever the case, we will have to wait and see if this patent ever makes it to a real working device, since not every patent makes it to a final product.

Source US Patent & Trademark Office

Via GSM Arena

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Huawei could be working on a foldable phone with clamshell design

It seems that Huawei is getting ready to compete against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and the Motorola RAZR. The Chinese tech giant filed a foldable phone patent with a clamshell design back in April, and it looks a bit familiar.

We are still waiting to see the successor of the Mate Xs. Still, it seems that Huawei is more interested in delivering a new device that can go against the other foldable phones in the market that features a clamshell design. New patents found at the China National Intellectual Property Office shows what could be one of Huawei’s future foldable phones.

The device may look like the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip at first glance, but this phone would have a major advantage, as its design shows a large external display. This means that this phone could be able to give its users more than just a couple of notifications at the same time, and since it’s placed on the same back panel as the dual camera module, we can also expect it to help while taking selfies.

It’s also a safe guess that this dual camera will also serve as the phone’s main camera, as there are no other cameras found in these images. This could also mean that we could get some awesome selfies with this device, as Huawei phones are well-known for packing good cameras. We don’t know if this device will have a small gap between both halves when closed, as we don’t get an image to illustrate the phone’s appearance closed from the side.

However, we must also remember that this is just a patent, and nobody can confirm that Huawei is indeed working on a foldable phone with a clamshell design. The only thing that’s certain right now is that Huawei has recently launched its latest flagship, the Mate 40 series, and it looks rather interesting.

Source Lets Go Digital

Via GSM Arena

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Apple may be working on a way to include sensors behind its displays

Well, it seems that Apple is trying to get rid of the notch for real this time. A patent filed back on April 5, 2019, reveals that not only the notch may disappear from future iPhones, but we may also see bezels get smaller in future Apple devices.

The guys over at Apple Insider found a newly released patent that suggests that Apple is constantly working to find a way to move sensors away from the bezels and into the screen itself. This would eventually lead to a future iPhone with an edge to edge display, and other devices such as iPads, iMac, and MacBooks with tiny bezels, meaning that Apple could give its users bigger displays without having to increase the size of a device.

The patent application describes a “Sensing System for Detection of Light Incident to a Light Emitting Layer of an Electronic Device Display,” which basically consists about placing the detector within an active area of a Display. Apple also explains that “an electronic device can include a display formed from a stack of functional and structural layers (a ‘display stack’) attached to, or otherwise disposed below, a protective outer cover,” when referring to the top of the device which would also include the bezels.

“An electronic device can also include a light sensing system, such as an ambient light sensor. Typically, a light sensing system is positioned below the protective outer cover, adjacent to, and separated from, a light emitting region of the display stack.
“The individual light sensors of the light sensing system coupled to the controller are disposed or formed directly onto one or more layers of the display stack that defines the active display area.
“As a result of this construction, the light sensing system may be able to detect light incident to the active display area, even if one or more of the groups of individual light sensors is occluded or covered by a user.”

It’s not clear how this may work or if it ever does, but looking at it from a positive point of view, we can say that Apple may not be so proud of its notch after all, and it’s continuously looking for ways to get rid of it. Unfortunately, the full-sized notch will still be present in the upcoming iPhone 12 lineup, but we may see it get smaller starting next year with the arrival of the iPhone 13.

Source Apple Insider

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Apple’s foldable iPhone may arrive with a new “self-healing display”

It seems that Apple may finally be getting ready to enter the foldable phone market, as the company has even started to patent its invention of a self-healing display. According to the new patent, this new display would include a material that would make dents and scratches disappear.

There is no clue as to when Apple may release its first foldable iPhone, but new information from patently suggests that it will indeed arrive. This foldable device will include a layer of self-healing material that would come to fix imperfections on the display. This would also solve some of the problems faced by the first foldable device from Samsung.

“Displays are typically formed from rigid planar substrates. Although satisfactory in many situations, rigid displays such as these may be difficult to integrate into certain devices, such as devices with bendable housings […]

“During operation of an electronic device, the display cover layer for the electronic device may be scratched or dented. To improve the aesthetics of the electronic device, it may be desirable for the presence of scratches and dents to be minimized. To help mitigate the number of dents, scratches, or other imperfections in a display cover layer, the display cover layer may include a layer of self-healing material.

“Self-healing may occur in the layer of self-healing material without prompting (e.g., when the self-healing coating is dented, the material of the coating may fill the dent even without external intervention). Alternatively, the self-healing may be initiated or expedited by externally applied heat, light, electric current, or other type of external stimulus.

“When heat is used as a stimulus for the self-healing process, the display cover layer may include transparent conductors that form a heating layer in the display cover layer. The heating layer may be used to generate heat to stimulate self-healing. The heating layer may be used to generate heat in response to user input, according to a predetermined schedule, or when the electronic device is charging.”

This new display would also use heat to prevent damage on the display’s surface, and it would also repair the device automatically without the user having to do anything.

“To facilitate bending about the bend axis without damage when the display is cold, a portion of the display that overlaps the bend axis may be selectively heated.”

Still, we may have to wait sometime before Apple’s foldable iPhone hits the market. In the meantime, you may want to check out the new leaked prices for the upcoming iPhone 12 lineup that could arrive in a couple of weeks.

Source 9to5Mac

Via Patently Apple

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Apple could let you take long distance group selfies in the future

Usually, patents give us a better idea of what companies are preparing for their customers. The Verge found one of the latest patents awarded to Apple, and it would allow its users to take “synthetic group selfies.”

It seems that you could soon take a group selfie without being around the people in the picture. According to Apple’s new patent, this new app would let you invite other people to become part of your group selfie, and the participants would be arranged accordingly in the frame. The patent also describes the window that would appear on the invited used device to let them participate in the group selfie photo if they accept the request.

The group photos would include still images, stored video images, or live streaming images, which would allow for several different options for users when creating a synthetic selfie. This patent was filed back in 2018, and it was recently granted to Apple, which would make sense, considering the ongoing pandemic, but let’s remember that not every patent becomes a real product, or in this case, an actual application.

Source The Verge

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Pocketnow Daily: Apple’s WWDC will be DIFFERENT?!(video)

On today's Pocketnow Daily, we talk about Apple's next WWDC that will now be an online event, Foxconn reopening its factories and more

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Foldable Motorola RAZR + Moto Mods = Modular foldable RAZR next year?

Published in August, a patent application describes a clamshell foldable smartphone which could be enhanced with modules, pretty much like Moto Mods before.

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