Wah, The Upcoming iPhone 7 Might Be Waterproof!
The next smartphone from Apple might be able to swim.
By John Lim — 16 Aug 2016, 04:45 PM
As anticipation for the release of the new iPhone continues to gather pace, a new patent awarded to Apple last week strongly suggests the device may be completely... waterproof!
The patent suggested that the company has been working on technology to make the next-generation iPhone waterproof
The patent outlines a system for "colour-balancing photos shot underwater." Presumably, if Apple is working on technology to make sure photos taken underwater come out looking good, the company would also be ensuring that the phones themselves are waterproof.
There's isn't much information regarding the mechanics of devices that would be required to run the underwater photo software, but it does mention that it could “operate on mobile devices,” and specifically references the iPhone and iPad
The patent images suggest Apple is creating an editing software used for underwater technology to ensure that photos don’t have “undesirable tints”
The patent also goes on to describe how the removal of these tints will make the colouring of people and objects in the underwater landscape appear more realistic
In some embodiments, colors near the color of the water itself are protected from leaving the water looking blue.
Removing undesirable tints without removing the tint of the water itself results in images with the more realistic coloring of people and objects in the scene, without eliminating the color cues (e.g., blue water) that indicate that the image is a photograph of an underwater scene.
The patent ties up with the reports that Apple will be removing the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 - one of the easiest places of a phone for water to seep into.
Considering Samsung's Galaxy S7 and Note 7 are waterproof, it was only a matter of time before Apple implements the technology to up its smartphone game
Of course, there's no guarantee that Apple is working on incorporating this patent into the iPhone 7, and the company has yet to comment or confirm anything
But rest assured when that happens, you can expect a tonne of selfies with fishes and underwater holiday shots flooding your Instagram feed.
The evidence for a waterproof iPhone is stacking up ahead of the rumoured released date of 16 September. Not too long now!
A much bigger and more powerful iPhone 7 Plus is also rumoured to be making an appearance.