The long-rumored Apple Car may have doors that prevent passengers from being hit by another vehicle as they exit the car, while an in-car VR system could have added features to minimize the chance of motion sickness.
A Texas federal jury on Tuesday ruled that Apple must pay $506.2 million for willfully infringing on a handful of 4G LTE patents owned by PanOptis and related companies.
The Apple Car may alert drivers to chips and cracks in the windshield and other windows, with a system that uses infrared light to determine if there are any issues with the glass, as well as giving an early warning to prevent small cracks getting larger.
Apple's AirPods could automatically adjust its audio to make the wearer more aware of their surroundings and any potential dangers in the future, with Apple considering how its personal audio accessories to function in safer ways in situations such as cycling on a busy road.
A future version of the Apple Watch could spread its antennas throughout the wearable device's body, including adhering some relating to wireless connectivity on the back casing, to improve the quality of reception.
Apple is looking at ways of reducing how much processing an iPhone or other device has to do on the image sensor itself in order to produce high quality video, with the aim of saving both file size and battery power.
An Apple Car could have displays embedded within any glass in the vehicle, with laminated glass sandwiching various other materials to block external light, emit its own light, or to display an image.
A future MacBook Pro may have keys that could be used as a touchpad, with the same technology possible for use in a design where there's no dedicated touchpad section at all.
Apple is aiming to bring better Wi-Fi and wireless connectivity to the Apple Watch by creating a wireless antenna array that is integrated into the display.
A future version of the iPhone could have a display that wraps around the body of the device, or the iPhone body could be rounder in shape, with Apple examining new ways to create a display that can be installed on a curved surface.
A dispute over Apple's alleged use of Chinese patents in Siri is continuing with a new lawsuit demanding $1.43 billion in damages, and could potentially see Apple banned from China.
Apple is continuing to develop, refine, and expand its concept of a finger-worn, smart ring that could be used to wirelessly control nearby devices, or interface with an augmented reality peripheral like the rumored "Apple Glass."
To keep delicate and very small sensors within a future iPhone or Apple Watch clean and working perfectly, Apple is researching the use of heat and light to decompose contaminants.
Apple is researching technology to allow an "Apple Glass" user to not be constrained to fixed physical gestures or touch controls, and instead manipulate any object to alter what is visible on the headset.
The Apple Pencil could one day provide haptic feedback to the user, by using piezoelectric elements to spin internal drums that create a shaking sensation within the stylus.
A future iteration of AirPods could take advantage of bone conduction technology to provide audio in a variety of situations where normal earphones aren't effective, with a proposed system combining bone conduction with normal air-based sound transmission.
