Apple invents smart packaging

Apple is likely to start customising customers' devices before they've even been unboxed, Patently Apple reports. The company has reportedly 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.

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 makes 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.