Apple's latest patent wants to personalize your iPhone before it's even out of the box

apple employee stefanie ipad 3

(Theodore Ritz | Business Insider)An Apple employee unpackages a new iPad.

Apple might start customising customers' devices before they've even been unboxed, Patently Apple reports.

The Cupertino company has applied for a patent that would let Apple Store employees personalise devices for customers while still packaged and in store. This could "include loading of files, configuration of user accounts, configuration of user interfaces, [and] installation of applications."

A device would be placed close to the packaged iPhone/iPad/MacBook, and would then transmit the desired configuration wirelessly to it. It could be used to ensure that a customer with impaired eyesight is able to use their new tablet right out of the box, or perhaps to restore a users' data from the cloud when replacing a stolen iPhone.

Here's a diagram that comes with the patent application — it shows an iPad but the patent notes that the technology could be used for any number of devices:

apple ipad patent packaging wireless

(Apple)

Not every Apple patent finds its way into a finished product, however. Some are purely precautionary, or intended to snare competitors in legislation.

But Apple already makes every effort to ensure that its in-store employees are helpful as possible. This new technology means it would be able to cater its products ever-more precisely to its customers' needs.

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