While Apple has been working on a high-end Mixed Reality Headset for years as proven by our archive on this future device, Apple has simultaneously been working on an entry headset that will use an iPhone as its display and brains. The first patent on this surfaced in 2010. Since that time, Apple has updated this invention a minimum of 14 times. We covered many of the updates over the years here: 01, 02, 03, 04, 05. Many of the updates added new features or focus like emphasizing games or adding a touch sensor to the frame or addressing prescription lenses or a new audio system or adding cellular for phone calls. The entry-level Headset is for playing games, watching movies, TV shows and running apps. At present, the patent doesn't cover VR or AR applications.

Apple's patent FIG. 1 below illustrates a simplified diagram of an entry-level head-mounted display system that uses an iPhone as its main display; FIG. 3A provides an overview of this entry-level system that accepts an iPhone where content could be controlled using a remote-control device; FIG. 7 shows a side view of a head-mounted device coupled to a portable electronic device – an iPhone.

Today the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office officially issue Apple its 15^th granted patent on this invention. Today's granted patent covers a series of features in its patent claims. Below are the key highlights:

Patent Claim #1: An electronic device configured to be worn by a user, the electronic device comprising: a housing; a speaker in the housing that is configured to play audio into an ear of the user; an accelerometer in the housing that is configured to detect head movement; and control circuitry configured to identify an input command based on the detected head movement, wherein the input command comprises a command to change a volume of the audio played by the speaker in the housing.

Patent Claim #2: The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the detected head movement comprises a head tilt.

Patent Claim #3: The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the control circuitry is configured to provide options allowing the user to associate the head movement with a particular input command.

Patent Claim #5: The electronic device defined in claim 1, further comprising: a microphone that is configured to receive voice input from the user, wherein the control circuitry is configured to control a function based on the voice input.

Patent Claim #11: The wearable electronic device defined in claim 10, wherein the control circuitry is configured to identify a head movement associated with a command based on the head movement information.

For more details, review Apple's granted patent 11,089,144.