This Week's Apple Rumors, Ranked From Dumbest to Most Plausible - Wired

The iPhone 5s touch sensor is located underneath the device’s “home” button. Image: Ariel Zambelich/WIRED

Each week, there are dozens of Apple rumors, reports, and patent filings that hint at what’s coming out of Cupertino next. Some are legit, but many are totally bogus. As always, we’ve parsed the week’s rumors, ranking them in order from “utterly ridiculous” to “duh, of course.” First up…

DON’T COUNT ON IT: Future MacBooks Will Be Solar Powered and Have Dual-Sided Displays

Some of Apple’s patents make sense. Others seem like the products of some futuristic fever dream. “Electronic device display module,” a patent granted to Apple this week, falls into the latter category. The patent describes a laptop with a dual-sided glass display. The display is on the front face, and on the rear, solar cells and a secondary display used for touch input. That rear panel could be made of electrochromic glass, which can switch from see-through to opaque when a voltage is applied across it. When it’s in see-through mode, the photovoltaic cells can absorb sunlight and charge the device’s battery. The touch sensors could be applied in a few different ways, including capacitive or acoustic methods.

ASK AGAIN LATER: iOS Will Feature a Vehicle Location App

Among a slew of patent filings this week, one hints that Apple could be working on a vehicle detection method that’ll help you locate your car in those horrible, labyrinthine shopping center parking lots. It would use a GPS-enabled tablet or smartphone, and a Bluetooth-capable car (or device inside the car). It would be able to tell when you get in the car, activating an onboard GPS, and detect when you’ve parked a car. Once parked, the location would be saved, and geofencing could also be used to determine when you’re getting close to your car. There are already a number of third-party apps that track where you parked your car, but Apple has never shied away from implementing a feature first dreamed up by a third party developer.

ASK AGAIN LATER: Apple Working on Pressure-Sensitive Touchscreens

The capacitive touch display in Apple’s mobile products could get a second type of touch sensitivity by way of pressure sensors, according to patent application published this week. Apple describes how three or more touch sensors placed (potentially) in the corners could add a new type of touch input. I’d imagine this would be more useful in specific applications rather than iOS wide — in certain games, or in art or photography apps where you’d need to use a pressure sensitive stylus to get the same effect. Anyways, when you pressed the screen, the sensors would each receive a pressure value as an input. Combined into a calculation the patent calls a “force centroid,” the system could know exactly where on the screen you’re exerting force.

SIGNS POINT TO YES: Apple TV Going From “Hobby” to “Real Product”

At media events and financial earnings calls, Apple has time and again referred to its Apple set top box as a “hobby” device, one that’s designed to appeal to only a small audience rather than the huge market the iPad, iPhone, and Mac aim to please. But the days of the Apple TV being a hobby seem numbered, as rumors of a major refresh ramp up. Another interesting sign? Apple is pimping the Apple TV in a big way on its website for Valentine’s Day this year. It now has its own dedicated section alongside the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and iPod.

WITHOUT A DOUBT: Touch ID for Mobile Payments in the Works

In Apple’s first quarter earnings call Tuesday, CEO Tim Cook basically confirmed Touch ID’s future is in mobile payments. In an uncharacteristically open response to an analyst query about mobile payments, Cook said, “The mobile payments area in general is one we’ve been intrigued with. It was one of the thoughts behind Touch ID… it’s a big opportunity.” And PayPal wants in on the game too, according to a report from Re/code. Specifically, PayPal wants Apple to use its infrastructure in the background of its mobile payment endeavor in some way, whether it be payment processing, fraud detection, or some other area. The sources on this, however, don’t think it’s likely that Apple is going to need PayPal’s services.

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