Apple patents a system with retractable corners to protect the iPhone

After several patents filed in this regard, it is clear that Apple is investigating ways to protect your iPhone from drops. The latest patent, filed last Thursday with the name «housing for electrical devices«, Describes a security system that deploys some retractable bumpers with cushioning that come out of the corners of the iPhone when the built-in sensors detect a possible impact. This patent works in a similar way to another patent they filed to protect the front panel. The patent protects against falls on hard surfaces (Are soft ones dangerous?). The iPhone would use the accelerometer, the gyroscope, cameras and microphones (one specifically for echolocation), among others, which are configured to control the movement of the device to detect changes in speed, acceleration and other movements characteristic of a fall.

When the iPhone detects a free fall, the system unfold the corners to absorb the impact on the device case. The corners of the bumper could be made of foam, plastic, rubber, or other materials. Protective corners could be replaced after an impact, in the same way that a bumper of any vehicle can be replaced after an accident. Depending on the price of a new part (which in the case of Apple, it is scary ...), this could be interesting, since it would allow us to always have an iPhone without marks or broken parts, paying less than if we have to replace, for example, the front panel .

But there is still something more interesting. This system also describes the possibility that the retractable corners also serve as a float for protect it against liquids. As you read. Occasionally, an iPhone can fall into a pool, sink, and be damaged. If the system described in this Apple patent works, an iPhone would fall into the water and sink a few centimeters, then floating like a ship. For the sake of the users, we hope that this ship is not the Titanic.

If we take into account that Apple has already introduced changes in the iPhone 6s that give it greater resistance to water, it is unlikely that we will see this patent in any of its devices, at least to protect it against liquids. In addition, in the absence of seeing it in a final design and although I may be wrong, such a device could be uglier than a refrigerator from behind. Either way, it's good to know that Apple cares about protecting our iPhones.