14 DAY TRIAL // The fact that the iPhone is not waterproof has been quite a subject of discussion in recent years. Apple users wanted to make sure they would not lose their phone forever if they forgot it in their pockets while going swimming.
A newly granted patent shows the Apple's way of dealing with moisture inside an iPhone or iPad. It remains to be seen if they will actually use this new technology inside the iPhone 6 and the larger iPhone 6 Plus.
Patent Tuesday
According to Patently Apple, the US Patent and Trademark office has published over 40 Apple patents today, like they usually do on Tuesdays. However, this is by far the most interesting one. Apple has apparently found a solution to keep moisture out of the iDevices. In the drawings that came with the Patent filing, Apple engineers explain that they may include a small gap between housing structures that is coated with a repelling material.
The water drops could be kept inside the gaps and taken out using the classic "rice bag" method or other more scientific ones. This way, the moisture will only get in touch with the casing and it will not affect the logic board, screen, CPU and other electronics inside the iPhone or iPad.
This is not only about water
The patent reveals that the materials used to repel moisture are referred as hydrophobic coating or oleophobic materials. They are not used only to repel water, but other liquids like oils, adhesives or liquid food.
Another way they may implement this is by using a glass-filled nylon or other plastic. Apple is also considering using liquid metal as the substance that can waterproof a future iDevice. The engineers that contributed to this patent describe the way the housing can be done using robots.
The cited source notes that Apple currently has four different patents regarding waterproofing of their devices. The one granted now has been filed back in the first few months of 2011.
There are only a few hours left until Apple's big event of the fall, where at least two iPhone models will be revealed. Recently, there were rumors about an iWatch that may be waterproof up to a depth of 20 meters. Apple may include their newest patent in a smaller device first, because that is a device that does not have too many openings or ports like the iPhone does.
For a bigger device, the problem with waterproofing it is to cover the four openings the iPhone has: audio jack, speaker, microphone and the lightning port connector. All of them have been moved to the bottom, so it should be easier to coat the bottom part of the case with such a hydrophobic material.