Apple’s patent for a cat-like tech could one day save your iPhone

In a move that could be a godsend to accident-prone users, Apple may be working on a way for iPhones to fall the same way cats do to protect its most fragile parts.

In a patent filing, Apple has designed a system called the “Protective Mechanism for an Electronic Device� that would detect when the phone is falling and shift the phone’s weight so it falls on the side that would cause the least amount of damage, according to a report by Apple Insider.

“In one example, the protective mechanism is configured to alter the device orientation as the device is falling,� part of the patent reads. “This may allow a less vulnerable portion of the device to impact the surface at the end of a freefall. For example, the protective mechanism may be activated to rotate the device so that it may impact a surface on its edge, rather than on a screen portion.�

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And as one Apple Insider reader pointed out, that sounds a lot like what cats do in order to always land on their legs.

“Ha. This is pretty amusing. :) :) It’s like the phone equivalent of a cat, throw it in the air and it lands on its legs every time,� the user wrote.

The patent, which was filed in September 2011, also shows the iPhone could do a number of other maneuvers to protect itself. If it is being dragged off a table by a cable, it could release the cable to keep from falling. Similarly, it could also grasp on to a cable, such as a headphone plug, to break a fall.

Apple has countless patents and receives new ones all the time, so it’s unclear whether this will ever make it to new iPhones. But at the very least, it’s a neat idea that surely iPhone owners with clumsy hands would appreciate.

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