A self-healing waterproof port cover might be applied on iPhone 7, meanwhile it will also allow connecting Lightning charger and headphone jack temporarily. Yesterday, Apple submitted a patent application which was aimed at providing water resistance on iPhone’s ports. In fact, it’s not surprising that Apple is working on it, since one of the most common issues for iPhone is the water damage. Even though iPhone 6 & 6Sare not marked with water resistance, they perform well as many other water-proof smartphones. People have tested their iPhone 6 and 6S by putting the phone under water for 1 hour. Fortunately, the iPhone can still work.
However, water can still go into the phone through Lightning port and headphone jack. Apple’s new patent is aimed to solve it with the self-healing elastomer, which allow temporarily access to the phone cross the holes. According to the patent description files, when the headphone jack or the USB cable get out of the device, the cover will self-heal to the original shape to prevent water and dust.
