A future Apple Watch could have a built in camera and a new kind of strap

Date:
Mon, 13 Feb 2023 11:08:04 +0000

Description:
Apple has been granted a patent for an Apple Watch with a camera on the bottom.

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Cameras are an essential part of any smartphone or tablet, but so far theyve rarely been encountered on a smartwatch, and never on an Apple Watch . That could change though, as Apple has now been granted a patent for an Apple
Watch camera system.

The patent, which was filed with the USPTO (United States Patent and
Trademark Office) and granted on February 7, 2023, has now been spotted by Phone Arena and others, and it details both a camera built into an Apple Watch, and an unusual strap to help you use it.

The camera detailed here is on the bottom of the Apple Watch, which of course means you cant use it while wearing the watch at least, unless all you want is an extreme close-up of your wrist. But thats where the strap comes in. Image 1 of 2 (Image credit: USPTO) Image 2 of 2 (Image credit: USPTO)

The body of the watch would be connected to the strap via a deployable attachment mechanism such as a magnet or a latch so you can quickly and easily remove the watch from the strap. Then you could hold it up to take a picture, using the screen as a viewfinder, and just as easily lock it back into the strap when done.

Of course, you could use this camera with a normal strap too, by taking the whole thing off your wrist, but thats potentially fiddlier than this
solution.

That said, this still sounds more cumbersome than just using your phone, and is likely to deliver worse results. But if your phones battery has died or youve left your phone at home which you might even intentionally do if you have a cellular Apple Watch then there would definitely be a use case for this.

Whether it would be worth the extra cost involved in adding a camera to the wearable, and the potentially increased size of the watch as a result, is
less clear though.

Still, if you like the idea of a camera on your Apple Watch then you dont actually have to wait for Apple to add one. A third-party strap called the Wristcam has cameras built in, and you dont even need to remove the Apple Watch from the strap to use these ones. Though as a result the strap itself
is rather chunky. Analysis: not the first Apple Watch camera patent, and unlikely to be the last

Apple has been exploring the idea of a camera in the Apple Watch for a long time, with a number of other patents offering alternate solutions to the one above. Weve seen, for example, a patent for an Apple Watch with an under-display camera , and one with a camera built into the Digital Crown .

So this is just the latest in a long line of Apple Watch camera ideas and theres no reason to think this one will make it to market when the others havent.

In fact, the majority of patents like these dont end up getting used, so theres every chance well keep seeing new patents for new versions of the
idea, with no finished product.

Still, the fact that its something Apple continues to explore suggests theres hope that one day we might see an Apple Watch with a camera, it just probably wont take this form and almost certainly wont happen in time for the Apple Watch 9 or Apple Watch Ultra 2 , which is expected in 2024



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/news/a-future-apple-watch-could-have-a-built-in-came ra-and-a-new-kind-of-strap


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