Friday, February 10, 2023 3:54 pm6 Comments

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Earlier this week, Apple was granted a patent (US-11571048-B1) for an Apple Watch strap release mechanism that could potentially be used with a built-in camera. This is at lest the the third camera-related Apple Watch patent seen in recent years.

An Apple patent application illustration published in 2019 reveals an Apple Watch Band with a built-in rotatable camera (source: USPTO via Patently Apple)

Victoria Song for The Verge:

First spotted by Patently Apple, the patent’s abstract and description section detail a strap with two segments and a “nest” portion. The concept was to create a quick and ergonomic way to pop the watch out of the strap.

That, in turn, could open up new ways to use the Apple Watch that aren’t limited to the wrist — like, as stated in the claims section, taking pictures with a built-in camera.

Apple was granted another patent last year simply titled “Watch having a camera.” It described a scenario where a camera was placed within the digital crown… In 2019, Apple won a patent for a rotatable camera built into the end of a strap. Notably, there’s already a third-party Apple Watch accessory called the Wristcam that functions similarly.

There are legitimate reasons why a customer might want a smartwatch camera. One of the big draws of the Apple Watch is that it enables iPhone users to spend less time on their phones — and potentially even leave it behind when running errands, going for a walk, or exercising. But who hasn’t been out and about and seen something they wanted to take a pic of to send to friends and family? Without your phone, you’d have no evidence. And, as they say, pics or it didn’t happen.

MacDailyNews Take: While in certain work situations camera are strictly verboten, we’ve often longed for an Apple Watch camera, especially while out on a run with just our Watches in scenic locales.

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