Patent applications published Thursday shed new light on Apple’s quest to create a noninvasive blood sugar sensor. Unconfirmed rumors point to the transformative medical feature arriving in this year’s Apple Watch upgrade. If true, it could offer diabetics and others a convenient way to accurately track blood glucose levels.
Apple filed a patent application that could give a first glimpse of the AR glasses the company is developing. An image included with the filing shows a small, lightweight augmented-reality device about the size of a standard pair of eyeglasses.
The primary focus of the patent is the ways the glasses might detect what its wearer is doing. These will allow the wearer to interact with the head-worn device in a variety of ways.
You might someday be able to recharge an iPhone just by putting it down on your laptop. MacBook wireless charging an idea with obvious advantages … but real drawbacks, too.
It’s definitely something Apple has been looking into. On Tuesday, the company received a patent for a scheme to build wireless chargers into notebooks, tablets and handsets so they could charge each other (or an Apple Watch).
A recent patent proves Apple is working on an often-requested feature for iPad and iPhone: multiple user accounts. It’s not proof that this will be part of the next version of iOS or iPadOS, but it’s a promising sign.
Apple is working on a solution for the biggest drawback of folding displays. The first generation of foldable handsets made by rival companies develop a crease where the screen bends, but Apple engineers want to put a bendable display that includes a self-healing material in a folding iPhone.
Rather than traditional batteries, a future iPhone or Mac might be powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. Apple on Monday received a patent for a fuel cell that might be used in future devices. The goal is a device that can go days or weeks without needing to be refueled.
Apple has undoubtedly been investigating a folding iPhone for years because it keeps patenting designs. Including one awarded on Tuesday for an iPhone that folds closed while leaving a portion of the screen exposed to display status updates.
Apple was awarded a slightly macabre patent for scanning the veins in someone’s hands to determine finger position, thus enabling gesture controls.
This technology could potentially be used in Apple Watch or the smart glasses the company is allegedly developing.
Far from resting on its laurels, Apple continues to look for innovative features to build into MacBooks. A patent awarded Tuesday shows the company is considering making the trackpad virtual, so it can be positioned wherever the user likes.
And a second patent goes even further, making the keyboard and the area around it touch-sensitive.
It would be easier to make a foldable iPhone or iPad if it could include a flexible battery. Apple is investigating these as a power source, and was granted a patent on the technology on Tuesday.
In recent years, the company received many patents related to computers built around folding displays. They’re proof that Apple is actively exploring using these in future products.
