Apple has been studying the best way to reduce the appearance of fingerprints and smudges on the metal surfaces of its products for several years. According to the latest patent filings that have been published, the preferred solution for the moment remains the use of titanium.
The patent, filed with the US Patent and Trademark Office and spotted by Patently Apple, is titled“Oxidized coatings for metal surfaces”,he explains in detail how a thin coating can significantly reduce fingerprints, which Apple wants to get rid of.
Apple is working on developing titanium cases
Last month, patents for titanium device cases were discovered, revealing Apple's interestfor how various devices, including MacBooks, iPads and iPhones, could adopt titanium cases. Today,only certain models of the Apple Watchuse this compound for their casing.
The patent also reports that titanium has other great advantages. Indeed, the Apple brand believes that this material also offers great rigidity, an undeniable advantage for Apple products which have often been mocked for their fragility. Another strong point of this material is its hardness. Titanium is one of the hardest compounds that exist, so it is very hard to scratch it (for example, titanium is harder than iron, aluminum or steel). Additionally, titanium is inherently more resistant to corrosion than some other alloys. The icing on the cake is that titanium is an element that is ultimately quite light given its physical properties.
Unfortunately the patent tells us that titanium does not give the expected results with regard to the appearance of fingerprints. These fingerprints, which are today a real sore on the glass backs of iPhones, could remain so if these had a titanium frame, the existing treatments for glass having only minimal effectiveness for titanium.
It is also possible that Apple decides topropose its future productsin a matte black color, the latter being in essence the one that leaves fingerprints the least visible.
If the issue of fingerprints poses so many problems for Apple, it is because the brand would like to find a replacement solution for its aluminum cases which have existed at Apple for almost 20 years.
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By : Keleops AG
