For a product line known for high-end looks, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have one slight eyesore: you can see the antenna cutouts.

The plastic outlines on the top and bottom of the iPhone 6 are actually antennas meant to let wireless signals in and out. But a new Apple patent application suggests the company may be looking to hide the antenna on future models.

The patent is for technology that would make the plastic antennas in the phones look like metal, creating the illusion of one smooth continuous piece of aluminum. The new material wouldn’t interfere with any wireless signals or touchscreens, the company states in the patent.

The current design has been considered a faux-pas by many.

Khoi Vinh, who runs the influential design blog Subtraction, called the iPhone 6’s design “uninspired,” largely due to the antenna breaks, in a blog post.

“This lack of inspiration is particularly evident on its backside, where plastic antenna runners unimaginatively mar the clean metallic surface,” he wrote.

The patent filing doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll see the new material implemented in upcoming iPhones or iPads. Apple patents dozens of zany, futuristic things every year. It even has a patent for a solar-powered device.

The news comes just as rumors about the next iPhone are starting to surface. Last week, KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who has a decent track record on Apple rumors, said the next iPhone could use the stronger aluminum currently used in the Apple Watch.

The next-generation iPhone, likely called the iPhone 6S, is said to debut in September.

 

Source: Mashable