Apple may be considering making a new iPhone wallet case

Apple may be considering making a new iPhone wallet case as evidenced by a new patent filing (number US 20240127011 AI) for “techniques for managing physical cards stored in a physical wallet.”

About the patent filing

The patent filing involves techniques for managing (e.g., tracking or detecting the presence or absence of) physical cards (e.g., identification cards, credit cards, etc.) stored in a physical wallet. In particular, the embodiments set forth both (1) a smart wallet configured to manage the physical cards stored therein, as well as (2) a smart card configured to be inserted into a traditional wallet and to manage the physical cards stored therein.

The wallet could be incorporated into an iPhone case or offered as a standalone attachment. It would also work with Apple’s Find My feature to help locate a missing wallet or iPhone.

Summary of the patent filing

Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “This Application sets forth techniques for managing (e.g., tracking or detecting the presence or absence of) physical cards stored in a physical wallet. In particular, the techniques set forth a smart wallet configured to detect the physical cards stored therein, as well as a smart card configured to be inserted into a traditional wallet and to detect the physical cards stored therein. 

“The smart wallet/smart card can be configured to, upon detecting a change to physical cards stored in the smart wallet/traditional wallet, gather information associated with the physical cards and store the information into a memory of the smart wallet/smart card. The smart wallet/smart card can, upon being communicably coupled to a wireless device, transmit the information to the wireless device. Subsequently, the wireless device can output a notification indicating any missing physical cards as well as provide remedial options.