Cat-Like Reflexes For Your iPhone: Technically, U.S. Patent Application No. 20130073095 (“Protective Mechanism for an Electronic Device”) was filed by Apple in 2011, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office only published it just this March. Basically, the patent covers a way for your phone to shift its own center of mass when you drop it. A sensor detects if the phone is in a free-fall state, and a tiny mechanism makes subtle adjustments that could save you a cracked screen:
“The protective mechanism may be activated to rotate the device so that it may impact a surface on its edge, rather than on a screen portion,” Apple says in its patent application. It remains to be seen when this mechanism might be introduced into products -- but maybe you’ll feel a little less stressed about the condition of your iPhone 12 when you accidentally drop it from your hoverboard.
From Apple's patent application for a smartphone-protecting device.  Apple via USPTO