Apple’s been busy working up patents for its smartwatch and a new filing could fix the biggest bugbear with Apple’s smartwatch.
After we reported on new blood pressure technology, another patent spotted by Patently Apple puts batteries in the strap of an Apple Watch, to could deliver longer between charges.
In Apple’s patent, the batteries live within the strap, supported by an exoskeleton to stop twisting or rupturing of the cells.
The diagrams show a series of small batteries, living within a band that resembles the current leather loop.
There would also be a connector, in order to transfer power to the watch itself.
In six generations of the Apple Watch, battery life has stayed at a quoted life of 18 hours. We regularly achieve in excess of 30 hours, but with native sleep tracking on board, finding time to charge is now a bit of a hassle.
Fitbit has upped battery life to a quoted six days for the Fitbit Versa 3, and it’s one of the key reasons to choose one over an Apple Watch.
So if Apple could offer Watch users the chance to use their smartwatch longer between charges, it would certainly be a welcome addition.
We’ve seen a handful of smart band concepts come and go – and batteries in the strap often make it hard, ungainly and uncomfortable to wear. We’re sure that Apple would only progress the result if it was barely noticeable.
We also recently reviewed the Aura hydration band for Apple Watch – so if you want to see how companies are leveraging that extra piece of valuable wrist space for extra smarts – check out our thoughts.
How we test
James is the co-founder of Wareable, and he has been a technology journalist for 15 years.
He started his career at Future Publishing, James became the features editor of T3 Magazine and T3.com and was a regular contributor to TechRadar – before leaving Future Publishing to found Wareable in 2014.
James has been at the helm of Wareable since 2014 and has become one of the leading experts in wearable technologies globally. He has reviewed, tested, and covered pretty much every wearable on the market, and is passionate about the evolving industry, and wearables helping people achieve healthier and happier lives.