Apple patents new bone conduction earbuds

Considering Apple’s ability to provide us a new generation of the same product every year, it’s surprising how little their iconic white earbuds have changed since their inception — until (maybe) now.

A patent application published this week describes a plan aiming to improve the quality of voice communications in wireless earbuds through bone conduction.

The plan is this: First, a sensor within the actual earbuds will monitor the vibrations in a user’s bone structure by detecting the vibrations of their vocal chords, essentially allowing for a far greater clarity of sound than currently possible.

Secondly, internal microphones will detect environmental sound and “combine that information with accelerometer output, battery level and earbud position data,” to eradicate that noise pollution, offering a handy solution to the most common complaint by users of hands-free devices.

So the improved earbuds will allow you to hear better in noisy environments while simultaneously allowing others to hear you better, too. This means that Siri will be able to actually understand you, always.

Don’t be too excited just yet, though. Apple has been known to file multiple patents yearly, many of which never come to fruition. On the flipside, the company’s continued focus on music has got to mean the perfect earbuds will be in consumers’ ears sooner rather than later, right? Only time will tell.