Patentseed

Apple’s 11/925,679 patent application aims at improving and reducing the cost of capacitive touchscreens.  Current capacitive touchscreens are manufactured using a two-surface sensor panel.  Through the technology described in this patent application, Apple will be able to produce capacitive touchscreens using only one surface.  The most important advantage is the reduction in manufacturing cost, which could mean a significantly cheaper iPhone.  Apple also claims that using only one surface will reduce light loss from the display.  We’ll just keep our fingers crossed that this eventually means a $0 iPhone with contract.