Apple Has Been Awarded an Additional 33 Patents Just This Week

Despite the newest features that we saw at this year’s World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, Apple is holding out on a whole lot more. This is particularly evident through the 33 new patents the company was granted just this week, a number of which detail some entirely exciting possibilities for Apple’s future.

One of the more puzzling patents that Patently Apple recently detailed was the “mystery iPad” design patent. This was one of the seven design patents granted to Apple out of the 33, along with the patent for the Apple Watch design that hints at the possibility of a camera making its way to the wearable device in the near future.

According to the patent, it appears that Apple wants to integrate a landscape port on the iPad. A patent for this design feature first appeared back in June 2014, and a prototype even made its way out; yet Apple never capitalized on it.

Sources thought that the design was all but gone until the iPad Pro appeared with a “Smart Connector” alongside the landscape side of the device. So this is likely where the patent has finally come into fruition.

Another patent received by Apple details what appears to be an Apple TV system. Patented as “Method and apparatus for on demand video and other content rental,” it appears to encompass the new improvements made to Apple TV, including the video on demand service and how it syncs with iTunes.

But Apple is always looking towards the future, as is evident with some of the other patents granted to the company. One of the more exciting ones showcases how Apple plans on using gestures in order to access a locked device.

According to the patent, the front camera would detect and use a user’s gesture to completely unlock the device or grant limited access to apps like the camera. Implementing gesture technology could definitely add an extra layer of security to Apple’s devices beyond the current Touch ID and passcodes that exist on the iPhone and iPad.