Simply put, Apple wants fewer holes in its devices. Headphone jack – that’s a hole. Microphone – that’s a hole. According to a recent patent filing, Apple is looking to consolidate by combining the functionality of the two into one unified jack.
The patent argues that “in addition to using housing real estate, sound input apertures and electrical connectors introduce openings in the housing and breach the barrier that protects components inside the housing.” So fewer holes in the device itself, fewer ways for dust and other gunk to find their way inside. It also jibes completely with Apple’s obsessively minimalist design ethos. Another potential perk of the two-in-one design would be enhanced voice quality, thanks to the addition of an extra noise-snuffing microphone – what Apple calls “audio beamforming”.
With recent attention aimed at some of Apple’s grander patent plans, this filing seems more immediately actionable, and speaks to the company’s engineering meticulousness. [New Scientist]
Image courtesy of Yutaka Tsutano
Philpax
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 10:46 AMUh… I thought they already did that with the iPod touch.
Josh
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 1:51 PMI agree Phil, I thought that was the case!
Ha
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 2:33 PMYea, and on all my other phones too…
nozlaf
Saturday, August 28, 2010 at 3:31 PMthey are putting the actual mic inside the hole or the headphone jack not just doubling up the jack for a headset style 3.5mm plug
olearymo
Sunday, August 29, 2010 at 9:19 PMohh. So, really, the crux of this article:
Apple to put all headphone jacks at the bottom of phones.
Jeff
Monday, August 30, 2010 at 9:49 AM“Apple to put all headphone jacks at the bottom of phones.”
LOL
Grayda
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 at 4:12 PMIn the future, all Apple products will be a mysterious black box with a single button on it. Fanbois won’t know what it is, but they will know that they want one. It will cost over 9000 dollars and if you want it to do something, you’ll have to wait until the second version comes out. And Steve Jobs’ FULL BARS pose will become even more FULL BARS-ier, were that possible.