Apple's latest patent seeks to get rid of ugly antenna cutouts

 

 

For all its sleek lines, there's still something not quite right about how Apple's iPhone 6 looks: the antenna cutouts at the phone's corners.

 

A new Apple patent seeks to solve that, by making the plastic antenna look like metal, to blend with the phone's metal body.

 

"The composite structure can be part of an enclosure of an electronic device. The composite structure can give the enclosure a metallic look without interfering with the functioning of some electronic components of the electronic device, such as RF antennas, touch pads and touch screens," Apple said in the patent, not-so-elegantly titled "NON-CAPACITIVE OR RADIO FREQUENCY-TRANSPARENT MATERIALS WITH ANODIZED METAL APPEARANCE."

 

Apple said a metal oxide layer could be formed, depositing a non-capacitive layer on the metal oxide layer.

 

It also cited the possibility of an imitation metal oxide layer and depositing a non-capacitive layer on the imitation metal oxide layer.

 

Such a patent would create an "illusion of one smooth continuous piece of aluminum," Mashable noted.

 

"The new material wouldn't interfere with any wireless signals or touchscreens, the company states in the patent," it added.

 

Mashable also noted Apple is working on its next-generation iPhone, likely called the iPhone 6S, and may debut it in September. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News