iPhone 7 concept video isn’t as crazy as it looks

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Iphone 7 concept video parachute system
Don't worry -- the Parachute System has this under control.
Photo: Sonitdac (via YouTube)

A tongue-in-cheek (we assume) iPhone 7 concept video shows a feature that may be too awesome to ever actually exist.

YouTube user Sonitdac has discovered a way to keep the sure-to-be-expensive device safe from even the clumsiest of owners. They call it the “Parachute System,” and we really wish it were real. Not because it would be useful or practical but because it would be a ton of fun to play with.

Check it out in computer-generated action below.

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The Parachute System saves the imaginary iPhone 7 from a screen-shattering ground collision with an integrated set of carbon dioxide jets hidden in the case. An “orientation, speed, and proximity sensor” detects when the phone is in freefall and triggers retro boosters in either the top or bottom of the phone, depending on whether it’s falling screen-side up or down. And owners would receive an alert when their supply of the device-saving gas is low so that they can top it up through a port in the bottom.

Since a pack of 12 carbon-dioxide canisters of about the size shown in the video can cost you as little as $9 on Amazon, we assume Apple would sell its own versions for $20 or more. Or maybe the company would pull another Lightning port stunt and develop its own proprietary nozzle that only works with Parachute-enabled devices.

We probably don’t have to worry about any of that, however, because if Apple isn’t even sure about keeping the 3.5mm headphone jack, we doubt they’ll be adding any refueling ports for propulsion gas.

Interestingly, Apple has toyed with fall-interruption systems in the past. A patent the company filed in March of 2013 describes an internal motor that would turn your plummeting device in mid-air to make sure it lands on its back.

We have to say, though, that the Parachute System is way cooler than that motor idea. Too bad it’s fairly impractical and kind of crazy.

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