Tech Telecom

Reports suggest that the next upcoming iPhone may be a bit underwhelming, but at least—according to a new patent awarded recently to Apple—it might be waterproof.

The patent, granted this week, outlines a system for color-balancing photos shot underwater. Presumably, if Apple is working on technology to make sure photos taken underwater come out looking good, the company has to ensure their phones are waterproof.

The patent doesn’t really get into the mechanics of the devices that would be required to run this sort of underwater photography software, but it does mention that it could “operate on mobile devices,” specifically mentioning Apple’s iPhone and iPad lines. Currently, Apple doesn’t have any phone which is waterproof, but some third-party cases are used to make the phone waterproof.

While it’s possible that Apple could be working on software that helps non-waterproof phones take better photos underwater, it seems more likely that it would be working on software like this for forthcoming phones that are actually waterproof. And there are other indications that the company’s next phone, likely called the iPhone 7, will be waterproof. Recent reports are indicating that Apple’s next iPhone will be coming up without headphone jack as this also indicates for waterproof iPhone as it is one of the earliest places where water can seep into a phone.

The rumored move to not include a headphone jack generated ire, suggesting that by shunning wired headphones Apple would effectively stop people from listening to pirated music. Headphone jacks are analogue technology, whereas the iPhone 7 will most likely to use the Lighting charging jack to connect headphones, which is digital. Apple could easily include software that would prevent illegally downloaded or streamed content from being played through the Lightning port, something that can’t be possible with the standard headphone jack.

There’s no guarantee that Apple is working on turning this patent into a working product, and the company wasn’t immediately available to comment on its plans for the patent. It’s looking like we just have to wait until September to find out what Apple has in store for the next iPhone for its users, and whether we’ll be able to use it to take underwater photos or pour champagne all over them.

But if Apple comes with waterproof phones this will surely be a mandated change as other manufacturers already have waterproof phones and has been effectively tested and if they don’t this would be a drawback as customers want their phones in every condition especially in India.