Apple's new patent promises to make all notches and screen holes history
With its new patent, Apple has taken another serious step for the frameless iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Watch.
Apple has received another new patent from the US Patent and Trademark Office. It is not known whether the last patent obtained by the company, which has thousands of patents to date, will be implemented, but we can say that if it is put into use, it will change things a lot.
Apple's patent is about a sensor group that can be placed under the screen. Also, this patent covers not just the iPhone, but a wide variety of Apple devices, including the iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, and even future mixed reality devices.
The patent focuses on sensors like TouchID, pressure sensors, health sensors, optical sensors like light sensing and range (LiDAR) sensors, gaze tracking sensors, and more. The patent also mentions the use of various input-output devices such as buttons, touch sensors, touchpads, microphones and accelerometers to collect user inputs.
The figure below shows a cross-sectional side view of a stack of screens partially covering a sensor. Another drawing includes a top view of an illustration showing how sensors can be placed under the screen.
This patent appears to expand on technology previously reported in April 2022 aimed at eliminating the notch on the iPhone and relocating the TrueDepth camera system behind the screen. With the patent, Apple may have taken another step towards a completely bezel-less iPhone. But will it come to life; Time will show that.
