Apple Patent Envisions Electrical Connections ‘Imperceptible' to Naked Eye

Clues to how Apple phones, tablets, wearables and computers might look in the future can be found in U.S. patent application 2017/0093070, published March 30, describing methods for rendering all electrical contacts "hidden" so that they’re virtually invisible. First filed in September 2015, the patent suggests the same approach can be taken for TVs, cable boxes and cars. It acknowledges some peripherals like headphones can be connected wirelessly, but others either need a physical connection for power or work better when connected by electrical plug contacts. Apple’s answer is to blend new styles of electrical contacts with the device housing, said the patent. This is done with plugs that are made from insulating material dotted with tiny pathways filled with conductive material, it said. The pathways can be as little as 50 microns wide, the width of a human hair, it said. The electrically porous plugs push into holes in the casing to touch conductive plates on the inside of the casing, and there they connect with the device circuitry in the conventional manner. The plugs and socket hole have closely matching color and texture, so they're “imperceptible by the naked eye” and don't spoil the product's aesthetic appeal, said the patent. Apple representatives didn’t comment Friday on the invention’s commercial implications.