Apple is working on flexible speakers

A patent filed by Apple and published by the USPTO (United States Patent & Trademark Office) reveals that the Apple firm is currently working on speakers benefiting from completely new technology: they would indeed be flexible. Thus, in the patent, Apple notably advances the creation of a sort of box equipped with speakers with flexible walls, as well as a magnet and a diaphragm designed to deform under pressure.

A system used in a mixed reality headset?

Despite this flexibility, the goal is simple: to allow the speakers to continue to emit sound, even when they are under said pressure. To be clear, the machine will notably have a sensor making it possible to detect the curvature of the walls, the magnets and the diaphragm in order to adjust the operation of the speakers in the event of bending. In doing so, even though the device is compressed, it should still deliver the same sound volume.

“The speakers may include housings that are flexible, deformable, bendable, or malleable in a manner consistent with changing shape in a head-mounted headset” can we read on the patent. In the latter, Apple continues: “To take an example, in one of the configurations tested, the shape of the head support may suit a user with a smaller, shorter or narrower head. In another configuration, the shape of the head support may suit another user with a larger, wider or longer head“. As you will have understood, the patent talks a lot about a headset placed on the user's head. Can we therefore determine that this technology could be used in the context ofa successor to the Apple Vision ProFor example ? Obviously, at this stage, we can only speculate.