Apple has been tweaking their headset patents over the last few years as noted in our Augmented Reality and 3D archives. One such example could be found in our report titled "Apple Filed another Update to their Video Headset back in August Describing Two Viewing Modes for iPhone." Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that specifically updates their May 2017 granted patent that was originally filed in September 2016 with new specifics.

Changes and/or updates to a patent are always found in the company's patent claims and when compared to the May 2017 patent claims, we're able to see that Apple has tweaked the invention to focus on a couple of new aspects of the invention as follows:

• A head-mounted device that is operable with a removable cellular telephone with a display and a connector, the head-mounted device comprising: a support structure that is configured to support the cellular telephone in a docking area; first and second lenses through which the display of the cellular telephone is viewable when the cellular telephone is in the docking area; a retention structure configured to secure the cellular telephone within the docking area; a connector configured to mate with the connector of the cellular telephone; a button supported by the support structure; and sensors including at least a proximity sensor, an accelerometer, and a touch sensor.

• The head-mounted device defined in claim 1, wherein a size of the docking area is adjustable and the support structure has a portion that defines a nose recess, the head-mounted device further comprising: foam coupled to the portion of the support structure and an edge of the support structure; at least one strap coupled to the support structure; and a control member configured to be rotated.

• The head-mounted device defined in claim 1, wherein the support structure has a portion that defines a nose recess, the head-mounted device further comprising: foam coupled to the portion of the support structure and an edge of the support structure; and at least one strap coupled to the support structure.

• The head-mounted device defined in claim 3, further comprising: a control member configured to be rotated to help focus a user's eyes on the display.

• The head-mounted device defined in claim 1, wherein a size of the docking area is adjustable.

• The head-mounted device defined in claim 1, wherein the cellular telephone includes a camera that is configured to capture an image, the cellular telephone is configured to display image based content on the display without displaying the captured image in a first mode, and the cellular telephone is configured to display the captured image on at least a portion of the display in a second mode.

• A system operable with a removable cellular telephone with a display, the system comprising: a head-mounted support structure configured to support the cellular telephone; first and second lenses supported by the head-mounted support structure through which the display of the cellular telephone is viewable when the cellular telephone is supported by the head-mounted support structure; a door coupled to the head-mounted support structure that moves between an open position and a closed position; and a remote control that is configured to wirelessly control the cellular telephone.

• The system defined in claim 12, wherein the head-mounted support structure comprises a wireless chip that is configured to receive wireless signals from the cellular telephone and wherein the remote control is configured to transmit commands to the cellular telephone using Bluetooth signals, wirelessly control a volume of the cellular telephone, and wirelessly control the display of the cellular telephone.

• The head-mounted apparatus defined in claim 20, further comprising: at least one strap coupled to the support structure.

Apple's current patent claims from application 20170187855 can be viewed here and compared to their previous patent claims here. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.

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