Next-Gen Apple Watch Could Sport A Flat, Touch-Sensitive Digital Crown

The way the Apple Watch has been designed, it features a dial sticking out at the side of it. Apple calls it the digital crown where users can use it to scroll through the menu, text messages, press it, and so on. However, perhaps in a future iteration of the Apple Watch’s design, Apple might slim it down.

According to a recently-discovered patent by AppleInsider, they have found a patent that seems to suggest that Apple might be looking to slim down the digital crown by making it flat. This means that the digital crown could be sitting flush against the case of the Apple Watch, similar to the power button on the Apple Watch at the moment.

That being said, with it being flat, how are users supposed to interact with it? According to the patent, it suggests that this new digital crown will be touch sensitive and could even recognize gestures.

The patent’s description reads, “[A touch Digital Crown] can also include one or more sensors, such as biosensors. The one or more sensors can be configured to sense substantially any type of characteristic such as, but not limited to, images, pressure, light, touch, force, temperature, position, motion, and so on.”

That being said, it is unclear if Apple will ever proceed with such a design. The Apple Watch hasn’t really undergone a huge redesign ever since its launch, so perhaps in the future it will, but until then maybe don’t get your hopes up just yet.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Gadgets
Tags: Apple Watch, Patent, Smartwatch, Wearable Tech