Apple receives patent for Apple Watch with a camera

Still yearning for Apple to launch an Apple Watch with a built-in camera? There may yet be hope.

A patent granted to Apple(Opens in a new tab) last week describes a smartwatch with a camera on the device’s bottom surface. While it sounds like the worst possible spot to place the camera on, as it’s pointed directly at your wrist, the patent describes a system that would make this usable in some scenarios.

The trick is in the wristband, which would have two segments, the top (together with the watch itself) being easily detachable from the bottom. So if you wanted to take a photo with your Apple Watch, you could easily detach it from your wrist, point at whatever you like, snap the photo, and clip the watch back into the wristband.

It sounds fun until you remember that taking a photo with your phone is probably more practical in nearly every scenario, except for those rare occasions when you don’t have your phone on you.

This isn’t the first Apple patent describing a smartwatch with a built-in camera. This one, granted in 2022, describes a more conventional placement for the camera, inside the watch’s crown.

Notably, both patents were filed in 2019, so there’s a good chance that Apple has since given up on pursuing the idea.

Patently Apple(Opens in a new tab), which tracks Apple-related patents, says that at least 39 more patents were granted to Apple last week, including one for next-gen haptics which may be used to replace physical buttons on Apple devices.