With over 95,500 patent applications worldwide, Apple is known for working on many new technologies, products and innovations behind the scenes. While not all will see the light of day, we expect this patent to become a reality. According to the latest patent document, Apple is trying to make its products much more durable. So let's look at how the iPhone maker is trying to achieve this.

Patently Apple has reported that the US Patent and Trademark Office has granted Apple the freedom to manufacture wear-free electronic devices. This means the Cupertino tech giant will be able to build iPhones, iPads and even MacBooks, with scratch-resistant back panels (both glass and metal). This has been made possible by Apple engineers Christopher Prest, Stephen Lynch and Teodor Dabov.

According to the patent application, Apple is developing a "scratch-resistant membrane formed of metal or ceramic and consisting of a malleable matrix." Apple calls this Spatial Composites. This means that the metal and ceramic composite will be infused with scratch-resistant properties to increase the back panel's durability and reduce its surface interference. The resulting substrate layer will rest between 10 and 100 microns.

An interesting aspect of this patent that caught our eye was that the new substrate membrane will be "configured to reflect light at an angle." This means that your iPhone will not be completely prone to scratches. The light hitting the back panel will be scattered in such a way, it will look like there is nothing on your back panel. The visual response sent to your brain due to this scattering effect will trick you into thinking there are no scratches.