Apple has filed a patent for a handheld computing device “that includes an enclosure having structural walls formed from a glass material that can be radio transparent.”
The application, filed with the US Patent & Trademark Office states: “The enclosure can be formed from a hollow glass tube or two glass members bonded together. A laser frit bonding process may be used to hermetically seal the two glass members together to create a water resistant electronic device.”
As Mashable states, the iPhone 4 and 4S are already pretty close to the proposals, with their cases consisting of two pieces of glass and a steel frame.
To state the very obvious, a device made entirely out of glass sounds like a potential headache given the shatter risk.
But the application takes this in its stride, stating: “Some of the reasons for using glass over other materials are that glass is strong, stiff, and radio transparent and therefore a suitable material for an enclosure of an electronic device capable of wireless communications.
“The radio transparency is especially important for wireless hand held devices that include antennas internal to the enclosure. Radio transparency allows the wireless signals to pass through the enclosure and, in some cases, even enhances these transmissions.
“It will be understood that, although a glass enclosure is capable of wireless communications, the embodiments described herein need not be capable of wireless communication.”
As Engaget points out: “Naturally this is only an application, and it doesn’t say exactly what kind of super-durable glass would make this a desirous design change.
“So who knows if we’ll ever see an all-glass exterior on an iPhone or iPod.”
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