Patent Applications by Apple Inc. on June 26th, 2025

Apple Inc.: 37 patent applications

Apple Inc. has applied for patents in the areas of H04N7/157 (Conference systems, 2), G03B9/06 (Two or more co-operating pivoted blades, e.g. iris type (shutters functioning as diaphragms by limiting extent of opening movement ), 2), H01Q1/2266 ({disposed inside the computer}, 2), G06F3/013 ({Eye tracking input arrangements ( takes precedence)}, 2), A45F5/00 (Holders or carriers for hand articles; Holders or carriers for use while travelling or camping, 1), H01R13/629 (Additional means for facilitating engagement or disengagement of coupling parts, e.g. aligning or guiding means, levers, gas pressure {electrical locking indicators, manufacturing tolerances (separate tools or apparatus )}, 1), H01S5/423 ({having a vertical cavity}, 1), H04L5/1469 (Two-way operation using the same type of signal, i.e. duplex, 1), H04M15/60 ({based on actual use of network resources}, 1), H04W4/024 (WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication ; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions ), 1)

With keywords such as: first, second, include, housing, surface, defining, member, exterior, wirelessly, locatable in patent application abstracts.

Top Inventors:

Ryan C. Perkins of San francisco CA US (1 patents)
Johan Avendal of Cupertino CA US (1 patents)
Eduardo Jorge Da Costa Bras Lima of Sunnyvale CA US (1 patents)
Carlo Di Nallo of Belmont CA US (1 patents)
Jayesh Nath of Milpitas CA US (1 patents)

Patent Applications by Apple Inc.

20250204676. ANTENNA ASSEMBLY WIRELESSLY LOCATABLE TAG (Apple .)

Abstract: a wirelessly locatable tag may include a first housing member defining a first exterior surface of the tag, a second housing member removably coupled to the first housing member and defining a second exterior surface of the tag, and an antenna assembly. the antenna assembly may include an antenna frame defining a top surface and a peripheral side surface, a first antenna on the antenna frame along the peripheral side surface and configured to communicate with the electronic device using a first wireless protocol, a second antenna on the antenna frame along the peripheral side surface and configured to send a localization signal to the electronic device using a second wireless protocol different than the first protocol, and a third antenna on the antenna frame along the top surface and configured to communicate with the electronic device via a third wireless protocol different than the first and second protocols.

20250204769. Eye Characteristic Determination (Apple .)

Abstract: a method includes capturing a first image of an eye of a user by a first sensor coupled with a head-mounted device worn by the user and capturing a second image of the eye by a second sensor coupled with the head-mounted device. the method includes determining an eye characteristic based on the first image and the second image, and outputting a notification of the eye characteristic using an output component of the head-mounted device.

20250208484. Camera Module Variable Lens Aperture Soft Membrane (Apple .)

Abstract: a camera includes an optical assembly having one or more lenses. the camera also includes an image sensor. the camera further includes a variable aperture assembly positioned along a light path extending from an object side of the one or more lenses of the optical assembly and to the image sensor. the variable aperture assembly includes a rotor, a stator, an actuator configured to rotate the rotor relative to the stator, and a flexible membrane attached to both the rotor and the stator. the flexible membrane is configured to vary a diameter of an aperture formed by the flexible membrane on the light path when the rotor rotates relative to the stator.

20250208485. Locking Mechanism Variable Aperture Device Camera (Apple .)

Abstract: various embodiments include a locking mechanism in a variable aperture device for a camera system. the variable aperture device may be coupled with a lens assembly of the camera system. the variable aperture device may include aperture blades arranged to form an aperture stop, and an actuator for moving the aperture blades to change the size of the aperture. in various embodiments, the variable aperture device may include a stator and a rotor. according to various embodiments, the locking mechanism may include one or more metal plates coupled with the stator or the rotor. the metal plate(s) may magnetically interact with one or more magnetic components of the actuator to maintain a particular aperture size when no power is supplied to the actuator, according to various embodiments.

20250208660. Electronic Devices Having Sliding Expandable Displays (Apple .)

Abstract: an electronic device may have a housing with portions that slide relative to each other. a display may be supported on a surface of the housing such as on a front face of the housing. the housing portions may slide between an unexpanded state in which the display has an unexpanded viewable area on the front face and an expanded state in which the display has an expanded viewable area on the front face that is greater than the unexpanded viewable area. the housing portions may have interior regions that contain electrical components. the display may be formed from a flexible display substrate. a portion of a flexible display may be stored in an interior region of the housing when the housing is in the unexpanded state. in the unexpanded state, the flexible display may have one or more bends and may double back on itself one or more times.

20250208694. Adaptive Voltage Margin Techniques (Apple .)

Abstract: techniques are disclosed relating to power control and voltage margining. in some embodiments, first and second component circuits operate based on a supply voltage generated by a power supply. voltage sensor circuitry may generate voltage measurements. voltage margin control circuitry may determine a voltage ceiling based on a current operating state of the first component circuit and a current operating state of the second component circuit. the control circuitry may transmit control signals to the power supply to incrementally reduce the supply voltage until detecting a low-supply-voltage condition based on a voltage measurement generated by the voltage sensor circuitry. disclosed techniques may advantageously provide voltage margin while reducing overall power consumption.

20250208701. User Interface Element Stability (Apple .)

Abstract: methods, devices, and systems, in some implementations, stabilize user interface element using a stabilization property that is determined based on assessing the user's movement, e.g., assessing a hand movement characteristic and a head movement characteristic. in one example, the stabilization property restricts movement of user interface elements in certain circumstances, e.g., based on based on head movement (e.g., angular speed), hand movement (e.g., pinch centroid angular speed), and/or hand translation (e.g., pinch centroid speed).

20250208703. CONTROLLING USER SELECTION QUEUE (Apple .)

Abstract: various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods for compositing an affordance in association with a cgr object representing a physical article. in various implementations, a device includes a display, a non-transitory memory, and one or more processors coupled with the display and the non-transitory memory. in some implementations, a method includes displaying a computer-generated reality (cgr) object in a cgr environment. in some implementations, the cgr object represents a physical article. in some implementations, the method includes compositing an affordance in association with the cgr object. in some implementations, the method includes detecting an input directed to the affordance. in some implementations, the method includes, in response to detecting the input, adding an identifier identifying the physical article to a user selection queue.

20250208704. EYE-GAZE BASED BIOFEEDBACK (Apple .)

Abstract: various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that determine an attentive state of a user during an experience (e.g., visual and/or auditory content that could include real-world physical environment, virtual content, or a combination of each) based on the user's gaze characteristic(s) to enhance the experience. for example, an example process may include obtaining physiological data associated with a gaze of a user during an experience, determine a gaze characteristic during a segment of the experience based on the obtained physiological data, and determine that the user has a first attentive state during the segment of the experience based on classifying the gaze characteristic of the user during the segment of the experience.

20250208819. Content Transfer (Apple .)

Abstract: a wearable device configured to present first content to a user in combination with a view of an environment, and an external device is configured to present second content to the user. a controller associated with at least one of the wearable device or the external device is configured to detect an intention to transfer display of a content item between the wearable device and the external device, and to transfer display of the content item in response to detecting the intention.

20250208820. REMOTE USER-INTERFACE VIEWS (Apple .)

Abstract: some techniques are described herein for managing user-interface views on different devices.

20250209160. Processor Instruction Secure Pointer Arithmetic (Apple .)

Abstract: an apparatus includes a processor circuit with an execution pipeline circuit configured to execute instructions within an instruction stream, including a first instance of an instruction executable to compute an address to access a data array. the first instance of the instruction may specify a set of operands that includes a pointer to a base address of the data array, an index into the data array, and a size of data elements within the data array. in response to receiving the first instance of the instruction, the execution pipeline circuit may be configured to perform an arithmetic operation that includes a multiplication of the index and the size to generate a result for the address. in response to the arithmetic operation generating an overflow condition, the execution pipeline circuit may be further configured to cause a first corrective action that prevents access to the data array.

20250209317. KERNEL-LEVEL LOAD BALANCING ACROSS NEURAL ENGINES (Apple .)

Abstract: an electronic device may receive, at a first system routine from a client application, a provisioning request indicating that the application includes code for evaluating a machine learning model, wherein the first system routine executes in user space of memory on the device. the device may provision the code for execution on one or more of the circuit engines. the device may receive, at a second system routine from the application, an inference request for evaluating the machine learning model containing input data, wherein the second system routine executes in kernel space of memory on the device. the device may receive, at the second system routine, information about the circuit engines. the device may assign the inference request to one or more of the circuit engines where the request is evaluated. the device may provide a result of the inference request to the application.

20250209720. TECHNIQUES RENDERING CONTENT (Apple .)

Abstract: some techniques are described herein for conditionally rendering assets. in some examples, such techniques include a computer system receiving a request to render an asset and, in response, measuring performance of the computer system to determine whether to initiate rendering of the asset. for example, the computer system can measure the performance by rendering another asset that is less complex and/or resource intensive as the asset so to estimate a result of rendering the asset. other techniques are described herein for rendering assets in different manners. in some examples such techniques include a computer system receiving a request to render an asset and, in response, rendering the asset in different manners depending on one or more aspects of the file and one or more current performance measurements of the computer system. other techniques are described herein for rendering a 3d model based on current performance measurements of a computer system.

20250209733. Method Device Multi-Camera Hole Filling (Apple .)

Abstract: the method includes: obtaining a first image of an environment from a first image sensor associated with first intrinsic parameters; performing a warping operation on the first image according to perspective offset values to generate a warped first image in order to account for perspective differences between the first image sensor and a user of the electronic device; determining an occlusion mask based on the warped first image that includes a plurality of holes; obtaining a second image of the environment from a second image sensor associated with second intrinsic parameters; normalizing the second image based on a difference between the first and second intrinsic parameters to produce a normalized second image; and filling a first set of one or more holes of the occlusion mask based on the normalized second image to produce a modified first image.

20250209744. HYBRID SPATIAL GROUPS MULTI-USER COMMUNICATION SESSIONS (Apple .)

Abstract: some examples of the disclosure are directed to systems and methods for determining a placement location for an avatar corresponding to a remote user within a multi-user communication session that includes a group of collocated users when initiating the multi-user communication session. in some examples, a first electronic device detects an indication of a request to enter a communication session with a third electronic device, wherein the third electronic device is non-collocated in a first physical environment of the first electronic device. in some examples, in response to detecting the indication, the first electronic device enters the communication session that includes the first electronic device, a second electronic device, and the third electronic device, wherein the second electronic device is collocated in the first physical environment. in some examples, the first electronic device displays a visual representation of a user of the third electronic device in a computer-generated environment.

20250209753. INTERACTIONS WITHIN HYBRID SPATIAL GROUPS MULTI-USER COMMUNICATION SESSIONS (Apple .)

Abstract: some examples of the disclosure are directed to systems and methods for facilitating interactions, including movement, of content that is shared in a multi-user communication session based on whether participants in the multi-user communication session are collocated or non-collocated. in some examples, a first electronic device presents a three-dimensional environment including a first object of a first type and a visual representation of a user of the second electronic device. in some examples, the first electronic device receives a request to move the first object. in some examples, in response, in accordance with a determination that the second electronic device is collocated with the first electronic device in a first physical environment, the first electronic device moves the first object of the first type in the three-dimensional environment in accordance with the first input, without updating presentation of the visual representation of the user of the second electronic device.

20250209902. DEVICES, METHODS, GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACES DEVICE POSITION ADJUSTMENT (Apple .)

Abstract: the present disclosure generally relates to methods and graphical user interfaces for providing feedback pertaining to device position adjustment.

20250209954. Low Memory Pixel Uniformity Compensation Display Defects (Apple .)

Abstract: an electronic display including a display panel that includes a plurality of display pixels having non-uniform luminance characteristics. the electronic display also includes pixel uniformity correction circuitry configured to compensate for the non-uniform luminance characteristics of the display pixels based on a pixel luminance correction factor selected based on pixel group luminance error patterns corresponding to locations of the display pixels.

20250210056. INTERRUPT NOISE-CANCELLING AUDIO DEVICES (Apple .)

Abstract: implementations of the subject technology provide systems and methods for determining whether to interrupt a user of an audio device that is operating in a noise-cancelling mode of operation. for example, the user may desire to be interrupted by one or more pre-designated contacts that are identified at an associated electronic device as interrupt-authorized contacts, or by a person who speaks a designated keyword to the user.

20250210287. ONE-WAY VISIBILITY KEYCAPS (Apple .)

Abstract: keyboards and other electronic input devices have a key or keys with glyphs that are invisible to an unaided human eye in a first condition, such as when an underlying display attached to the key is not emitting light. the glyphs are visible through the key or keys when the display emits light. a one-way visibility layer or structure obscures the visibility of the display when viewed from above, but when the display emits light, the light penetrates through the one-way visibility layer, such as by passing through an array of microperforations in the key, and is visible to an onlooker.

20250210848. Electronic Device Handle Antenna (Apple .)

Abstract: an electronic device such as a desktop computer may have a conductive housing wall and a handle. the handle may have a leg that extends through an opening in the conductive housing wall. the device may include an antenna having an antenna arm. the antenna arm may be layered onto the leg of the handle and may be wrapped around the leg. the antenna arm may have first and second segments parallel to a longitudinal axis of the leg and may have a third segment orthogonal to the longitudinal axis of the leg. the antenna arm may be fed by a conductive screw extending through the conductive housing wall. the antenna may exhibit an omnidirectional radiation pattern over the conductive housing wall that serves to optimize the wireless performance of the device.

20250210849. Laptop Computer Phased Antenna Array (Apple .)

Abstract: an electronic device such as a laptop computer may have upper and lower housings. the upper housing may be coupled to the lower housing by a hinge having a hinge axis. the lower housing may have an upper metal wall, a lower metal wall, and an angled metal wall that extends from the upper metal wall towards the lower metal wall. the lower housing may include a phased antenna array with a set of antennas aligned along a linear axis. the phased antenna array may be aligned with a dielectric window in the upper metal wall and may be oriented such that the linear axis is orthogonal to the hinge axis, or may be aligned with a dielectric window in the angled metal wall. one or more processors may adjust the phased antenna array based on the position of the upper housing relative to the lower housing.

20250210850. Electronic Device Antenna Sheet Metal Cavity (Apple .)

Abstract: a laptop computer may have a lower housing with an antenna module. the antenna module may include first and second pieces of sheet metal that form a cavity. the cavity may have an aperture covered by a dielectric layer. the first piece of sheet metal may be bent towards the second piece and may be welded to the second piece at a side of the cavity opposite the aperture. an antenna arm may be disposed within the cavity and mounted to the second piece. the antenna arm may be laterally separated from the dielectric layer by a non-zero distance. a dielectric loading block may be disposed within the cavity and mounted to the second piece. the antenna arm may be mounted to a side of the dielectric loading block facing the aperture and the dielectric layer. the antenna arm may convey radio-frequency signals through the aperture and the dielectric layer.

20250210914. MECHANIZED CONNECTOR RECEPTACLES (Apple .)

Abstract: a connector receptacle can facilitate blind mating by detecting a presence of a corresponding connector insert and in response, providing a force to pull the connector insert into the connector receptacle. once the connector insert is inserted into the connector receptacle, the connector receptacle can provide a consistent retention force to ensure a good connection is maintained. the connector receptacle can provide breakaway protection by sensing that an ejection should occur and then in response, initiating an ejection of the connector insert.

20250210942. LASER EMITTING ARRAYS THERMALLY-INDUCED ENHANCED SPECTRAL WIDTH (Apple .)

Abstract: embodiments are directed to electronic devices that include a surface emitting laser array including a first set of light emitters distributed across the surface emitting laser array and configured to emit laser light into an environment of the electronic device. the laser array can also include a second set of light emitters interspersed with the first set of light emitters, where each light emitter in the second set of light emitters includes a first set of layers defining a first mirror, a second set of layers defining a second mirror, and a third set of layers positioned between the first set of layers and the second set of layers and defining a laser cavity. the surface emitting laser array can include a light blocking material positioned on one or more of the second set of light emitters and configured to cause localized heating of the laser array.

20250211413. METHOD APPARATUS NR DUPLEX OPERATION (Apple .)

Abstract: systems and methods are provided for duplex operation enhancement, including providing a user equipment (ue) preferred gap indication, ue uplink (ul) to downlink (dl) interference mitigation, enhanced broadcasting signal configurations, ce rf capability indication, or combinations thereof.

20250211683. METHODS SYSTEMS NETWORK SLICING CHARGING (Apple .)

Abstract: a network application server including communication circuitry and at least one processor is disclosed. the at least one processor is configured to receive, from a number of user equipments (ues) and via the communication circuitry, a number of requests to receive service data from a number of application providers; determine an amount of service data exchanged between an application provider and a set of ues of the number of ues requesting service data over one or more network slices; generate first billing information corresponding to the application provider based on criteria including the amount of service data exchanged with the application provider over the one or more network slices; and generate second billing information corresponding to each ue of the set of ues based on data usage by each ue of the set of the ues, independent of characteristics of the one or more network slices.

20250211711. CAMERA-LESS REPRESENTATION USERS DURING COMMUNICATION SESSIONS (Apple .)

Abstract: an example process includes receiving, from a user, an input corresponding to a request to render, without using a camera, and during a communication session with an external electronic device, an avatar associated with the user; and in accordance with receiving the input: in accordance with a determination that the electronic device is coupled to an external accessory device: during the communication session with the external electronic device, and while a camera corresponding to the communication session is disabled: receiving, from the external accessory device, a first data stream detected by a first type of sensor of the external accessory device; determining, based on the first data stream, a first set of data representing a first type of visual feature of the avatar; and rendering the avatar using the first set of data.

20250211712. ENVIRONMENT REMOTE COMMUNICATION (Apple .)

Abstract: techniques for presenting virtual representations of remote participants of communication sessions are described.

20250211817. Video Editing Key-Framing Animations Using Accessory Touch Device (Apple .)

Abstract: in one or more embodiments, a computing device is configured to present playback of a media composition on a touchscreen display. concurrently with presenting the playback, the computing device receives, via the touchscreen display during a first time period, a touch input that includes a series of motions that start when a particular frame of the media composition is being presented. responsive to receiving the touch input: the computing device adds a media clip to the media composition, with the media clip including a graphical representation of the touch input, having a duration corresponding to the first time period, and being stored in association with the particular frame. subsequent to adding the media clip, the computing device presents a second playback of the media composition where playback of the media clip is initiated when playback of the particular frame is started during the second playback of the media composition.

20250211941. PREDICTIVE GUIDANCE BASED SOUND MEASUREMENTS ELECTRONIC DEVICES (Apple .)

Abstract: the subject technology disclosed herein may allow a device to provide guidance based on sound measurements, which may include crowd-sourced measurements of the sound level at various locations other than a current location of the user. the crowd-sourced measurements may be real time measurements and/or may be stored and/or indexed by time (day, time of day, week, month, etc.), type of activity at specific locations (happy hour, open-mic night, sports play-offs, etc.), or environmental context similar to other locations (touring band, protest, sporting event, etc.). the guidance based on the sound measurements may include a reminder notification to bring hearing protection to a location for which crowd-sourced sound level measurements have been obtained, before the user arrives at the location. the guidance may also, or alternatively, include a recommended location and/or a recommended route with a desired sound level, such as a quiet restaurant, or a quiet walking route.

20250211944. LOCALIZATION BASED FLICKERING LIGHT WITHIN PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT (Apple .)

Abstract: various implementations disclosed herein include devices, systems, and methods that determines a user's location within an environment using sensor data. for example, a process may obtain, via a light sensor, a signal corresponding to light flicker from one or more light sources within a physical environment. the process may further compare a characteristic of the signal associated with the light flicker from the one or more light sources with predetermined flicker profile data. the predetermined flicker profile data may identify one or more flicker attributes associated with one or more locations within the physical environment. in response to comparing the characteristic of the signal with the predetermined flicker profile data, a location of the device within the physical environment may be determined.

20250211970. Profile Activation Selection Triggers Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card (Apple .)

Abstract: a ue and ue peripheral device are described. the ue can perform receiving, at a local profile assistant (lpa) of the ue and via a local management interface, an attention (at) command from a ue peripheral device; determining that the at command is for an embedded universal integrated circuit card (euicc) of the ue, the euicc configured to support a plurality of esim profiles; providing a request to the euicc according to the at command; obtaining, from the euicc responsive the request, an indication of a status of the request; providing an at command response to the ue peripheral device via the local management interface, the at command response based at least in part on the indication of the status.

20250212152. SEAMLESS USER EQUIPMENT (UE) CONTEXT RECOVERY (Apple .)

Abstract: a user equipment (ue) includes a transceiver and a processor. the processor is configured to determine to perform an operation during an unavailability period of the ue; transmit to a 3rd generation partnership project (3gpp) network, in response to determining to perform the operation and via the transceiver, a first message requesting an acceptance of the unavailability period, the first message including an estimated duration of the unavailability period; and receive from the 3gpp network, via the transceiver, a second message indicating the acceptance of the unavailability period or a rejection of the unavailability period.

20250212153. COMMON COORDINATES DEVICE LOCALIZATION (Apple .)

Abstract: techniques may include capturing a sequence of images of an environment using a camera of the mobile device. techniques may also include generating a map of an environment using the sequence of images, the map including one or more walls and one or more signal sources. techniques may furthermore include receiving one or more proximity messages from the one or more signal sources. techniques may in addition include determining a position for the mobile device using the map of the environment and the one or more proximity messages. other embodiments of this aspect include corresponding methods, computer systems, apparatus, and computer programs recorded on one or more computer storage devices, memories, or non-transitory computer readable media each configured to perform the actions of the techniques.

20250212199. OPTIMIZING SCHEDULING (Apple .)

Abstract: provided is a method for a user equipment (ue), comprising: receiving request for scheduling assistance from a base station, wherein the request for scheduling assistance comprises scheduling configuration to be applied to a set of flows of a scheduled terminal on an application layer; informing the scheduled terminal of the scheduling configuration; receiving scheduling assistance information from the scheduled terminal, wherein the scheduling assistance information is generated by the scheduled terminal based on the set of flows of the scheduled terminal on the application layer; and transmitting the scheduling assistance information to the base station.