No one looks forward to dropping their iPhone.
It’ll inevitably happen to anyone who owns – or will handle someone else’s – iPhone, and unless you’re lucky enough to drop it 2cm above carpeted flooring, chances are it’ll probably break.
For a phone that’s already so expensive, no one wants to pay the extra cash to get the screen fixed.
But according to new a patent filed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple is trying to save the day.
No, they won’t be reinforcing their screens Nokia-style (although the Nokia is making a comeback), but they are working on a tech feature that will detect when your screen is about to crack.
Apple Insider reports that, essentially, your phone would alert you to damage within the device and hairline cracks that form beneath the screen, saving you from devastating damage.
It won’t do anything for you if you happen to total the screen the first time you drop it, but if you’re prone to having your iPhone slip out of your hands and onto the floor at safe distances, it may well save your screen.
If your phone gave you a warning that it was about to break, you’d probably never drop it again – or at least know to save up for a repair before you do.
It’s not clear exactly how Apple will go ahead with this feature, but one method suggests the phone would use its touch sensors to detect damage, while another says it would utilise a series of vibrating hotspots underneath the screen.
Some of the methods would be triggered by a drop though, which isn’t ideal if that drop is bad enough to crack the screen.
It would probably be more helpful if the tech giant just chose a model that makes it impossible to break the screen, but hey, baby steps.
