Patently Apple:
This week the US Patent & Trademark Office published a patent application from Apple that relates to new protective coatings being added to Apple devices in the future that will prevent damage to housing structures, transparent members associated with optical component windows and displays, and other device structures.
And:
The protective coatings may include a binder material such as polymer (sometimes referred to as a matrix or polymer matrix) and may include particles embedded within the binder. The particles may have high hardness to enhance the durability of the protective coatings.
Better living through chemistry.
Well, proposes, not invents. Patents are often way ahead of reality. What I want them to invent is a phone exterior where we swap out the innards for new phones with better capabilties. That should help with the goal of eventually reaching 100 percent recycled materials in their phones.
It’s really unfortunate that prototypes are not generally required.