Apple will reportedly bring a scratch resistance feature to future iPhones.

A patent for “Spatial Composites”, which refers to integrating metal or ceramic with a chassis for scratch resistance, has recently been issued to the company, reports AppleInsider.

“(Mobile) phones, watches, and tablet computers can experience contact with various surfaces that lead to marring, or abrasion, of the surface of the device,” the iPhone maker said.

“(Regular housing) materials for such devices may have different combinations of properties relating to strength, appearance, abrasion resistance, electromagnetic shielding, and the like.”

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So, as the tech giant pointed out, the various materials used in an iPhone chassis have a variety of advantages as well as drawbacks.

“(For instance), metal housings may be particularly resistant to dents, scratches or breakage,” it added, “but may interfere with radio signals entering or emanating from the device.”

Drawings in the patent showed a variety of “abrasion-resistant members” in various shapes, each with distinctive benefits but serving the same general purpose.

Moreover, there was a drawing in the patent showing these members “dotted over the back of an iPhone”, the report said.