Changing light and temperature conditions sometimes cause inconveniences in the car through the windows. Of course there are already several (very old) solutions for this, but Apple seems to be working on a very 21st-century approach: ‘smart car windows’.
There are many reasons why ordinary ‘blank’ windows are sometimes not enough in a car. The windshield may sometimes let in too much sunlight, you want to give the people in the back a bit more privacy with dark windows, or you just find tinted windows a bit more beautiful. Nowadays you are often busy with adhesive foil, or you have to check some extra options for a new car. Anyway; these solutions are often (semi-) permanent. What if, for example, you want to let in more sunlight in the winter than in the summer?
Apple apparently sees a gap in the market. A patent application, surfaced by Techxplore, shows that the tech giant is working on ‘electrically adjustable windows’. The technology consists of one or more transparent layers between the normal glass, for which the transparency or tint can be adjusted. This can then be set manually in the car, but it can also automatically adapt to changing circumstances. In sunny and warm weather, for example, more light can be blocked than in gray weather. Also, if you prefer to be a bit more hidden from view, you can darken things yourself. It is not yet clear whether Apple is developing this technology for its own car or whether the company wants to offer the system to existing car manufacturers. We will see. Technology with a similar result is used by McLaren and Toyota, among other things, to darken windows, although in both cases it is not the windscreen.