Apple Bone Conduction Hybrid System Solves Drawbacks, Reveals Patent
A patent filing, discovered by AppleInsider, shows that Apple has developed a hybrid "combined" audio system using bone conduction technology.
In a patent granted today by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office titled "Multipath audio stimulation using audio compressors," Apple lays out its conception of an audio device that seeks to overcome the issues usually associated with bone conduction. Bone conduction technology allows users to listen to sound without earpieces by transmitting vibrations through specific points on specific points on a users' skull to reach the ear. While some bone conduction audio devices already exist on the market, they have remained fairly unusual.
Bone conduction works best at lower frequencies, with audio quality deteriorating at higher frequencies, and some users may find the necessary head-contacts uncomfortable. Apple's patented bone conduction system is unique because it combines it with normal air-based sound transmission to overcome the drawbacks of other bone conduction systems.
Apple explains that audio signals could be filtered and compressed into three categories, high-frequency components, mid-frequency components, and low-frequency components. A combined signal of the low and mid-frequency components would be transmitted through the user's skull with bone conduction, but the high-frequency component, that would otherwise be ineffective via bone conduction, would be sent through the air as normal. The patent suggests that the necessary air conduction system in this setup would be constructed in such a way as to not block the ear canal. Apple's hybrid system therefore combines the advantages of both bone and air-based audio conduction.
Apple has previously explored bone conduction technology to bring advanced noise cancellation to earbuds. Unlike this system, the previous patent works in reverse, using accelerometers to detect vibrations in the skull for noise cancellation. While Apple has brought noise cancellation to AirPods Pro, it has yet to institute any bone conduction technologies in its products. The technology would seemingly fit most comfortably into the successful AirPods line, but patents are not always indicative of Apple's immediate plans.
Popular Stories
Key details about the overall specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup have been shared by the leaker known as "Ice Universe," clarifying several important aspects of next year's devices. Reports in recent months have converged in agreement that Apple will discontinue the "Plus" iPhone model in 2025 while introducing an all-new iPhone 17 "Slim" model as an even more high-end option sitting...
Apple will adopt the same rear chassis manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 that it is using for the upcoming standard iPhone 16, claims a new rumor coming out of China. According to the Weibo-based leaker "Fixed Focus Digital," the backplate manufacturing process for the iPhone SE 4 is "exactly the same" as the standard model in Apple's upcoming iPhone 16 lineup, which is expected to...
Apple is scaling back its Hollywood spending after investing over $20 billion in original programming with limited success, Bloomberg reports. This shift comes after the streaming service, which launched in 2019, struggled to capture a significant share of the market, accounting for only 0.2% of TV viewership in the U.S., compared to Netflix's 8%. Despite heavy investment, critical acclaim,...
Apple typically releases its new iPhone series around mid-September, which means we are about two months out from the launch of the iPhone 16. Like the iPhone 15 series, this year's lineup is expected to stick with four models – iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, and iPhone 16 Pro Max – although there are plenty of design differences and new features to take into account. To bring ...
The upcoming iPhone 16 models that we're expecting to see in September are going to be quite similar to the iPhone 15 models, but rumors suggest that Apple is making big changes in 2025. We've been hearing hints of an all-new device in the iPhone lineup, and it may be the most expensive iPhone Apple has offered to date. New 'Slim' Design Rumors have taken to referring to the new iPhone 17...
The fourth-generation iPhone SE will offer a series of major upgrades over the current model, the leaker known as "Ice Universe" claims. The information was listed in a post on Weibo, which also detailed the specifications of the iPhone 17 lineup. As previously rumored, the fourth-generation iPhone SE is expected to feature Face ID and USB-C, marking a major upgrade from current and previous ...
Last Friday, a major CrowdStrike outage impacted PCs running Microsoft Windows, causing worldwide issues affecting airlines, retailers, banks, hospitals, rail networks, and more. Computers were stuck in continuous recovery loops, rendering them unusable. The failure was caused by an update to the CrowdStrike Falcon antivirus software that auto-installed on Windows 10 PCs, but Mac and Linux...
