The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially published a series of 64 newly granted patents for Apple Inc. today. In this particular report we cover Apple's invention related to the new 3D Structural design of the Mac Pro tower and back of the Pro Display XDR. The design is to provide maximum airflow to keep devices running cooler. As future iPhone are destined to use more powerful processors and GPUs, Apple's engineers spent a lot of time in this patent illustrating that the new 3D structural design may be headed for a future iPhone Pro model.    

Apple notes in their granted patent that an iPhone's internal and external structural components can be formed from and include regions of a three-dimensional structure that can include one or more cavities extending into the body from a first surface of a body and one or more cavities extending into the body from a second surface of the body.

One or more cavities extending into the body from the second surface of the body can intersect with or interfere with one or more cavities extending into the body from the first surface of the body to form a three-dimensional pattern of apertures or passageways in the body, maximizing surface area while maintaining structural integrity.

In some examples, the three-dimensional structure may initiate on an outer surface of the body, including cavities from different directions intersecting or interfering with one another, without extending to the innermost surface of the body as presented in the patent figures below.

In respect to patent FIGs 4 and 6 above, Apple notes that the cross-brace #306 can include regions having the three-dimensional structure formed therein. According to this example, the cross-brace can be sufficiently strong to prevent deformation or deflection of the housing (#301), while adding little weight, due to the regions having the three-dimensional structure formed therein. Any number of components of an electronic device can include regions having the three-dimensional structure formed therein, either for structural enhancements, weight savings, or thermal energy transfer.

Apple's granted patent 10,667,426 was originally filed in Q2 2019 with some of the work noted as dating back to Q3 2018.  The patent was published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.