A new patent for a headset was granted to Apple on Tuesday and the design resembles the Beats headphones, except it has a microphone attached to it.
According to AppleInsider, the headset is a design created by the Ammunition Group, a company behind the Beats design. Robert Brunner and Christopher Kuh, designers of a variety of Beats audio products, receive credits behind the new invention.
"Ammunition works in close partnership with Beats across product design, identity, and packaging to create an incredible experience for fans wherever they meet the product," stated a marketing write-up.
The patent does not tell much about what Apple has in store for consumers, but it likely suggests that the headset is geared for use in gaming.
Headsets like this new design by Apple are exactly what gamers are looking for these days because the external microphone makes it easier for them to issue voice commands while playing the game.
However, it remains unclear if Apple will pursue with the manufacture of a gaming headset. Apple generally avoids gaming products for console and desktop, because there are appropriate headsets intended for the gaming industry.
Reports stated that the patent was submitted on May 14, 2014 to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). This submission was made only two weeks prior to Apple's announcement on acquiring Beats for $3 billion.
Apart from the headset design, Apple has also been granted nine more patent designs by the USPTO, as reported in Patently Apple.
These designs include a Modern Buckle for Apple Watch, enclosure for iPhone 5S, and Graphic User Interface elements, among others.
The USPTO does not reveal much about any particular patent design. What it does is to show what or how the design looks like, but materials used to create the design will never be disclosed.
