Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a series of patent applications from Apple. While they may not be considered hot hardware features, they do represent some interesting R&D type of patents covering future technologies like Ultra-Wideband for Car Keys and other locked door situations. Others include “Broadcasting Mode of Planar Engine for Neural Processor” and “Touch Electrodes with Bar and Stripe Pattern.” Our report also covers a string of patent updates covering under-display Touch ID, Apple Pay and the iOS Measuring app.

Below are a series of new patent applications published today by the U.S. Patent Office. While they may not be flashy consumer-oriented inventions, they do present interesting details on various technologies that could one day emerge in Apple devices. The following patents may interest different segments of the Apple community, especially the developer community:

20210242901: Next-Generation Ultra-Wideband Frame Formats

During WWDC-20 Apple Engineer Matthias Lerch covered a Car Keys session wherein he noted that the initial version of Car Key was based on NFC technology and that in the future they would add Ultra-Wideband technology. Today’s patent covers locked doors from your home through to vehicles.

20210241079: Broadcasting Mode of Planar Engine for Neural Processor

Apple’s patent relates to a circuit for performing operations related to neural networks, and more specifically to a neural processor that includes a plurality of neural engine circuits and one or more multi-mode planar engine circuits that can reshape a tensor.

20210240303: Touch Electrodes with Bar and Stripe Pattern

Apple is always looking to improve key attributes of a device that could deliver the very best experience for users. Today’s invention/patent application covers touch sensor panel/touch screens that include touch electrodes in a bar-and-stripe pattern. According to Apple, “The bar-and-stripe pattern can improve touch signal levels for touch detection and improve uniformity of touch signal as objects move across the touch sensor panel/touch screen.”

Apple’s patent FIG. 6A below illustrates an example of unit cells that can be repeated across a touch sensor panel to form a bar-and-stripe pattern.

20210242543: Battery Pack with Attached System Module

20210240332: Cursor Integration with a Touch Screen User Interface

Enabling Automatic Measurements (An update to their measuring app patent)

Apple’s patent provides 3 examples with multiple patent figures per example breaking down a step-by-step review of performing an AR measurement. The patent presents 13 images from Figs. 1A-1G and Figs. 3A-3F. Below you’ll find two patent FIGS. per example below of a user taking measurement of their MacBook and a painting on a wall.

Apple’s continuation patent 20210241477 adds 13 new patent claims that you could review here.

Apple Pay related Patent: Using a Primary device to Provision Credentials to a second user device. Apple’s continuation patent  2021024126 adds 20 new patent claims that you could review here.

Eartips for In-Ear Listening Devices: Apple’s continuation patent 20210243514 has added 20 new patent claims that you could review here.

Under Display Touch ID related Patent: Patently Apple just covered Apple’s granted patent on this invention last week. Today the U.S. Patent Office published Apple’s update to this invention that adds a single patent claim that you could review here. Below are images from that patent. The update that was published today dates back to April 2021.