Apple
You know it, Apple tends to file hundreds of patents related to new technologies, but tends to use only a small part of them in its final products.
The latest patent, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), seems to be even more unusual than those usually obtained by the Cupertino company. The document mentions a vaporizer, or more precisely a combustion chamber receiving a substance intended to be vaporized. Towards an electronic cigarette made in Apple?
More specifically, the patent describes “a plate whose underside resting on the substance inside the combustion chamber is temperature controlled, for example by using a heating element which releases heat directly above the substance. The plate slides down when the substance is consumed by vaporization”.
The e-cigarette market has exploded in recent years. Between 2013 and 2015, the number of vapers in France, the United Kingdom, Russia, Italy, Poland, Germany and South Korea increased from 2.8 to 5.1 million, or 86% of increase! It is therefore possible that Apple is attracted by these potential additional revenues, and is considering offering a high-end electronic cigarette in the future.