An Apple Car could have windows with enhanced sun blocking, defrost features — Apple World Today

A rear window in a vehicle may use an ohmically heated wire for defrosting. A vehicle may have a sunroof window with an adjustable tint for selectively darkening or brightening of the interior of the vehicle. 

However, Apple says it can be challenging to incorporate systems such as these effectively into a vehicle. If care isn’t taken, window structures may be unsightly, may be insufficiently flexible, and/or may not exhibit adequate performance. 

Here’s the summary of the invention: “A window may be provided with a light modular or other active layer having an electrically adjustable optical property. The active layer may have a pair of electrodes. The electrodes may be used to apply electric fields across the active layer to adjust the active layer. A lower sheet resistance electrode may be supplied with a current to ohmically heat the active layer. 

“A higher sheet resistance electrode may be supplied with a voltage gradient to create a gradient in light transmission or other optical property as a function of distance across the higher sheet resistance electrode. The electrodes may be provided with terminals that are formed from elongated strips of metal or other terminal structures. The terminals may run along the peripheral edges of the electrodes.” 

As I’ve said before, I don’t think Apple will make a vehicle from scratch. Instead, I think it will team up with current car manufactures to assist them in implementing its many “Apple Car” ideas.