Apple’s true wireless earphones, dubbed as AirPods, remains one of the best-selling products from the company. The company improved the offering with the launch of AirPods Pro by introducing an active noise cancellation feature.
Now, a new patent granted to Apple (via AppleInsider) suggests that the company could be working on a new version of AirPods with bone conduction audio. The US-based tech giant has proposed a system that combines bone conduction with normal air-based sound transmission.
For those who are unaware, bone conduction includes transmitting sound to the inner ear through the bone of the skull. This allows users to hear audio content without blocking the ear canal or using earpieces.
However, there are some drawbacks to this technology, mainly the lack of its ability to work at high frequency. Human hearing ranges from 20Hz to 20,000Hz but bone conduction is only effective at sub-4,000Hz levels and then the audio quality starts deteriorating. Also, for the technology to work, it required contact with the head but causes a tactile tickling sensation, which could be annoying for some users.
EDITOR’S PICK: World’s First 120W fast charging unveiled by iQOO; the First phone with this tech could be announced in August
Apple patent has a workaround for the high-frequency audio. It will deliver mid- and low-frequency signals using a compressor through bone conduction while the high-frequency signals will be transmitted through air, enabling the best of both worlds.
The patent from Apple titled “Multipath audio stimulation using audio compressors” was originally filed in May 2018. Do note that Apple files the number of patents every year and not all of them materialize into commercial products.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a well-known Apple analyst, claims that the next-generation AirPods, likely to be named AirPods 3 with bone conduction technology, will have the same design as the AirPods Pro and could get launched ahead of next year’s WWDC.
UP NEXT: Apple is being sued by Koss for infringing on wireless headphone technology
