It’s not clear whether Apple will release the iPhone 7S or the iPhone 8 next year, but the latest patent release from the company has detailed another way the company will be able to make it thinner than ever.
The patent, filed way back in November 2014, is for a "Mechanically actuated panel acoustic system" that should be able to shrink the speaker system in your iPhone, MacBook or iPad.
It details "an electronic device includes an enclosure or housing panel that is used as part of an acoustic system".
"The panel is divided into several sub-panels. For each sub-panel, the device includes one or more actuators attached to vibrate the sub-panel.”
Shrinking your iPhone
Each actuator detailed is also attached to a sub-panel, and will convert the signal into sound itself.
This technology would be able to recreate high definition sound without the need for micro drivers, which can take up a lot of space.
It's a similar technology to what's used in the iPad Pro 12.9-inch, but that version includes four 'self-balancing' micro speaker drivers as well.
This is quite an old patent though, so Apple may not include this tech in a future device, but considering the company dropped the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 it would be another way for the company to ensure the next phone is as thin as possible.
We hope it doesn't slim the new iPhone down though, and rather uses the newly acquired space to fit a bigger battery. Please Apple!
Via AppleInsider
