Apple’s patent application imagines charging cables that may not wear out so easily

Apple charging cables are not exactly known for their durability. They tend to wear out after a year or two and may even break to the point where you no longer charge your device. (I also realized that they can turn an increasingly bitter shade of yellow.) But Apple is apparently working on some ideas to make its cables more durable by filing a patent application for a “Cable with variable stiffness”.

The patent, first reported by AppleInsider, describes some different ideas for a cable that would not wear out so easily. The methods would give different parts of the cable varying levels of rigidity, while keeping the cable uniformly thick. They would also replace what Apple calls a “strain relief sleeve” – the hard cover you’ll find on the ends of many cables.

The strain relief sleeve helps prevent the cable from breaking due to bends, which can be useful, as the cables tend to be bent sharply near the ends to connect them. The fact is that these gloves often do not prevent the cables from wearing out. Apple’s ideas in this patent vary the flexibility and stiffness of an entire cable, which theoretically would better protect against wear, no matter where you bend it regularly, all without increasing the thickness (which means there are no more relief gloves) of tension).

Image: uspto.gov

This is just a patent application and there is no guarantee that Apple will use this design in future cables. But the fact that Apple applied for this is a good sign that it is thinking about the cable’s durability. We hope to see some improvements in the future.