Future Apple Watch Could Have Improved Haptic Feedback

The Apple Watch comes with a hardware feature called the Taptic engine. This is a standalone component inside the watch that provides the wearer with haptic feedback to let them know about notifications, alerts to high heart rates, reminders to stand up, and more. However, it isn’t necessarily the strongest haptic feedback.

However, Apple could be looking at other ways to improve on it, according to AppleInsider who recently discovered a patent titled, “Portable Electronic Device Having a Haptic Device with a Moving Battery Element.” In this patent, it appears that Apple could be exploring other ways to bring haptic feedback to the user, and one of those ways could involve using the battery of the watch itself.

Based on the patent’s description, it suggests that the battery of the Apple Watch could be coupled to the display with a coiled assembly that could be “configured to induce an oscillatory movement of the battery element parallel to the display to produce the haptic output.” Such a design could open up the door to other possibilities as well.

For example, by doing away with the need for a separate component for haptic feedback, that space could be freed up to include other components. It could also be used to make the battery larger, which Apple readily admits in the patent where if the haptic device was not included, it could allow for a larger battery that would improve on the Apple Watch’s battery life.

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