Apple’s been using antenna lines in its smartphones ever since the days of the iPhone 4 and antenna-gate, but a new patent filed by the company could soon make those unsightly lines disappear for good.
In a new patent filed last week, Apple has detailed its plan to create a composite material that looks just like the anodized metal iPhone cases are made out of, expect it still allows wireless signals to get through.
U.S. Patent #20150167193, titled ‘non-capacitive or radio frequency-transparent materials with anodized metal appearance’ could allow for future iPhones and MacBooks to have a sleek, cleaner look that doesn’t compromise on signal reception.
Apple also mentions in the patent description that the new material could be used as a coating on trackpads for the Mac, so that it looks more unified with the rest of the metal enclosure. It could even potentially be used for touchscreens, as well.
Whether Apple will actually use the patent still remains to be seen, but with the iPhone 7 rumored to have a home button built into the display, it might be the perfect material to make an iPhone that just looks like one solid hunk of metal.
Via: Engadget
Buster Hein is a freelance writer who lives in Phoenix, Arizona. Twitter: @bst3r.
6 responses to “Apple’s new material will eliminate iPhone’s unsightly antenna lines”
I was always told they used the metal because it’s highly recyclable and Apple prides itself on building very recyclable products. Perhaps I heard wrong…
Perhaps you heard right and this is just a rumor without merit? Perhaps the new material would only be used for sections of the phone – imagine the original iPhone but with the bottom black plastic part looking identical to the aluminum body of the phone. ???
Thank you Jeebus. No more Tighty Whities iPhones.
They aren’t that unsightly. I would rather have the protruding camera gone.
I had forgotten those lines were there since I keep my iPhone 6 in a protective case…..which also protects the protruding camera lens and lets the phone rest FLAT on a table. That last one is a pet peeve of mine and a reason I could never ever by or deal with one of the curved phones. On occasion I lay my phone on the table and type on it in landscape mode and a wobbly phone just doesn’t cut it.
Your article uses the wrong word in the following segment: “expect it still allows wireless signals” should read “*except* it still allows wireless signals.”
I expect this was a combination of autocorrect that was missed during your editing review.