Apple's beautiful solar power iPhone patent

Some patents are just so sexy, and I’m loving Apple’s latest gem - solar-powered iPhones, iPads and iPods (and whatever devices may follow) in which the energy collection cells are actually hidden inside the display.

I’m so enamored of the elegance of this concept. It means that where you interact with the device will also be the point at which the device interacts with the world in an incredibly tangible way -- it gains energy, you gain information. Quite beautiful.

So, to the patent, Apple’s at pains here to describe just how it will be able to integrate cell panels beneath the multi-touch surface as opposed to it being applied to the top surface of their media players.

It also underlines another reason for Apple’s move to field glass type back panels on the iPad, as switching the iPhone's backside substrate to a non-metal surface makes it possible for Apple to “implement a double-sided solar panel design”, writes Patently Apple.

This would double the amount of power that the cells would be able to draw in order for them to power the media player longer.

The great thing about this whole notion is that your Apple device would continue to gather power when it was switched off. Meanwhile continued advances in the technology of solar power collection devices now means you can get a decent amount of power even on a grey day. Though we reckon we’ll need mains electricity for a good while yet.

All very cool.

Source 9 to 5 Mac