Apple Audio Pulse Patent Uses Hydrophilic Coating To Repel Water From iPhones

Apple published on Thursday a new patent that would make the iPhone stronger and safer against the entry of water. The patent involved using a hydrophilic coating on the speaker grille to repel water. The coating is not limited to the speaker grille. Apple also wants to line the grille’s inner side with a hydrophilic coating.

The purpose of the inner side hydrophilic coating is to speed up the removal of water out of the iPhone and use a sensor within the acoustic chamber to know if the device has any liquid. The patent says Apple plans to outfit the array with a specially designed speaker. It would send an audio pulse blast that could not be heard by the human ear while sending the water out of the iPhone where it entered, Digital Trends reports.

But the tech website notes that the Apple plan to use hydrophilic coating is not new. Many modern smartphones have an oleophobic coating over the screen to keep smudges and smears off the display. In addition, third-party companies manufacture hydrophobic solutions that are sprayed on mobile devices that would repel liquid and make the smartphone almost waterproof.

Meanwhile, MacRumors reports that the upcoming iPhone 8, which could possibly sport the hydrophilic coating, would also have an enhanced receiver and more improvements to stereo sound and waterproofing, based on new research shared last week by JPMorgan analysts. The earpiece would also be waterproof which appears to confirm the previous speculation that the iPhone 8 would have even better IP68–rated water resistance. Techspot adds that the report claims the iPhone 8 would ship with a complementary set of AirPods to replace the wired EarPods with Lightning connector.

The hydrophilic coating on the audio pulse is now in the Series 2 smartwatches. Apple filed the patent on Jan. 18, 2017, which explains why Apple’s iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus have an IP67 rating. It means these two devices could be submerged in water up to one meter for 30 minutes without damaging the phone.