While the new iPhones appear to be unofficially water-resistant to some extent, Apple has yet to make water resistance or waterproofing a main selling point for its devices. But that's not to say Apple hasn't been thinking about ways to further protect our devices from water damage, as one patent filing reveals.
Initially filed in May of 2014, Apple Insider reported that the tech giant was recently granted a patent titled "Liquid expulsion from an orifice," which describes a potential solution for getting rid of water that makes its way inside a device's ports.
Here's how it would work.
Let's say some water gets inside your iPhone's headphone port. By using sound and special sensors to analyze if there's any moisture inside the device, the technology described in the patent filing would then employ different electrical currents to a conductive material lining the port's walls. By giving off a charge that would either repel or attract the liquid in an effort to force movement, this cycle of charges and discharges to could be used to channel the fluid out of the phone.
In certain orifices, such as with the speakers, the iPhone would use energy pulses in the form of sound waves to eject the liquid.
This actually isn’t the first time Apple has filed a patent aimed at making its iPhone more resistant to water. Back in March, the company was granted a patent described using hydrophobic – water-repelling – coating for the guts of its phone, which could actually explain why the iPhone 6S appears to be able to stand up in a soak test (we recommend you keep your iPhones away from water, though).
As usual, just because Apple was granted the patent doesn’t mean it will use it. But there have been rumors that the iPhone 7 will be waterproof, and this at least proves Apple has been thinking about ways to keep your gadgets nice and dry in the future.
