applepatent

Apple Granted ‘Periscope’ Compact Zoom Lens Patent

The United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple a patent for a compact camera that uses a set of prisms to "fold" light and compress the amount of space needed for a telephoto lens. This type of lens is typically referred to as a "periscope" lens in smartphones.

Apple Patents iMac Design Made from a Single Piece of Curved Glass

The design of the iMac hasn't changed much since the aluminum unibody version was announced in 2009. They slimmed down the design in 2012, and added a retina display in 2015, and that's about it... but that definitely doesn't mean Apple isn't innovating behind the scenes.

This Patent Shows How Apple Could Add Optical Zoom to the iPhone 7

Apple's iPhone 7 has long been rumored to sport dual cameras, but the smartphone might have another interesting photographic trick up its sleeve when it arrives: optical zoom. A new patent from Apple shows how they could make this happen without making the phone bulkier.

Apple Wins Patents for Removable-Lens iPhone Designs

For those intrigued by the notion of add-on lenses for smartphones but put off by the bulky design, Apple offers hope with a couple of recently patented designs for swapping camera components on an iPhone without turning it into an unwieldy monster.

Apple Awarded Patent for Lytro-like Light-Field Camera System

A patent filed back in September of 2011 was finally awarded to Apple today, and it has the whole photo world atwitter. That's because this patent describes a camera system that would use the light-field technology made famous by Lytro to take refocusable images -- and it could work inside portable devices such as an iPhone.

That's right, light-field technology in an iPhone... now you see why everybody is excited over something that is, after all, still just a patent.

Apple May Add Interchangeable Lenses to Future iPhones

Published earlier today and already discovered by AppleInsider, a new patent from Apple seems to show that the Cupertino company would like to put swappable lenses in future iPhones. The camera in the iPhone 4S is already great -- it was even used all by itself for an editorial fashion shoot -- but there is always room to improve in creative ways and swappable lenses are certainly uncharted territory for a camera phone.