Apple's new patent reveals details about an over-ear headphone

Apple might be working on an advanced pair of AirPods

| Published: Saturday, November 10, 2018, 15:32 [IST]

Apple has been long rumored to be working on a pair of its over-ear headphones, but we haven't come across a lot of information surrounding the device. But, Apple's newly granted patent has caused a stir again.

Apple's new patent reveals details about an over-ear headphone

Titled "System and method for automatic right-left ear detection for headphones," it seems the company is working on a pair of headphones that would be reversible, automatically adjusting right or left earcups based on how the user puts them on, reports 9to5Mac.

The patent shows a system where the ear cups will comprise five microphones which will determine which ear cup is which through a variety of methods that involve comparing relative microphone inputs.

Once the ear cups determine their placement, they can also use those microphones to offer a HomePod-like functionality that uses one mic to capture the user's voice and the other one to cancel noise.

The patent only shows the technology that the company will use to determine which ear cup is on the user's right ear for voice detection. But, there's a possibility that Apple will add reversible nature to playback proper right / left stereo signals after it determines the ear.

Well, this goes without saying that not all patents make it to the production stage, and there's no confirmation whether this new technology will ever make to any of the Apple products. But, if Apple is planning to make these headphones, we are sure we'll get to see some exceptional tricks there.

Previously, the company was awarded few mobile-related patents that would make iPhone's camera better than ever. It's likely that there's something similar to what Google has done with Pixel's camera.

One of the patents called "Image sensing with in-pixel depth sensing," will make iPhone's single lens camera act as a dual-lens sensor. The patent also describes that the new functionality will work with modes such as depth-of-field mode, HDR mode, and charge-summing mode.