A recently-published Apple patent suggests that the company is developing a more sophisticated method of telling whether a device such as an iPod or iPhone has been abused by its owner. According to AppleInsider, the patent, entitled “Consumer Abuse Detection System and Method,” describes a system of water, thermal, shock, and other sensors that may detect and record potential device abuse, while at the same time disabling certain components such as screens, hard drives, processor memory, and/or removable media in order to protect them from damage.
