Apple patents antenna hidden inside screen using capacitive feed
Apple describes a design where a radio antenna is built directly into the layers of a device's display. Instead of using a direct wire connection, the antenna is powered through a small gap in the display's layers, a method known as capacitive coupling.
In the filing’s own words
An electronic device may be provided with sidewalls, a rear wall, and a display mounted to the sidewalls opposite the rear wall. The device may include an antenna integrated into the display. The antenna may include a resonating arm formed from a first conductive layer in the display. The first conductive layer may be layered onto a dielectric layer of the display. The antenna may be fed using a feed patch layered onto the dielectric layer. The feed patch may indirectly feed the first conductive layer via a first capacitive coupling across the dielectric layer. The antenna may have a return path that includes a second conductive layer on the dielectric layer. The second conductive layer may convey radio-frequency current between the first conductive layer and the rear wall via a second capacitive coupling across the dielectric layer.
What exactly they claim (claim 1)
1. An electronic device comprising: a conductive wall; peripheral conductive housing structures; a display cover layer mounted to the peripheral conductive housing structures opposite the conductive wall; a display panel mounted to the display cover layer and configured to emit light through the display cover layer, the display panel including a dielectric layer and a first conductive layer on the dielectric layer; and an antenna that includes an antenna arm formed from the first conductive layer and configured to radiate through the display cover layer, a feed patch layered onto the dielectric layer and configured to indirectly feed the first conductive layer, a second conductive layer layered onto the dielectric layer, and a conductive interconnect that couples the second conductive layer to the conductive wall.
Facts
- Company
- Apple (Apple Inc.)
- Official title
- Electronic device with capacitively fed display antenna
- Patent number
- US12771033B2
- Application number
- 18630854
- Filed
- Apr 9, 2024
- Granted
- Oct 20, 2026
- Inventors
- 17
- Claims
- 20
Classified under
H01Q 9/045 Electricity & electronicsH01Q 1/243 Electricity & electronicsH01Q 1/48 Electricity & electronicsMore from Apple in Chips & hardware
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Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.