Could Apple Be Looking to Dip Their Toes in the Vaping Market?

When you think of Apple, the first thing that comes to mind would often be a laptop, perhaps a smart phone, a wearable, fancy apps... not necessarily an e cigarette. So what does Apple and vaping have in common? Time will tell!

It would appear that Apple have their eye on a slice of the vaping pie, which makes sense when you think about it, given that they seem so invested in numerous other technology based sectors. 

News of a recently published patent application (submitted June 2016 and released January 2017) appears to hint at Apple looking at creating their own vaporizer. With vaping being such a booming industry, growing faster in the global market than could ever have been expected, it makes sense for the conglomerate to investigate and use their own technological advances and insights to cash in on their own version.

The patent application insinuates that Apple are looking to produce their own high-tech version vaporizer and that they are keen to identify and work with tech in a way that will reduce any vapour lost through cooling, in essence making a vaper's vapour fuller, more longer lasting and ultimately more enjoyable. We can get behind that.

It's all very up in the air at present and little is known with regards to the specifics however it isn't the first time that Apple have been linked with the vaping world. Long before vaping became the big deal that it is today, Mark Williams, a developer from Apple jumped ship to join a developer from another organisation to work on and produce the Firefly vaporizer; very high-end but unfortunately not in any way linked to the Nathan Fillion Firefly (now that would be a selling point to rival all others)!

Aside from the fact that the vaping industry is growing so fast and is clearly a good investment for any company, the fact that health organisations are more and more likely to advocate the use of e cigarettes as a cessation device or as an alternative to the clearly very unhealthy and potentially dangerous tobacco smoking alternative makes them all the more attractive to the general public (and investors).

While vaping hasn't been given the green light globally yet, additional research popping up every day makes it seem likely that the day vaping becomes officially pro-health isn't too far away. One has to wonder if the popularity and the fierce call for the legalisation of medical marijuana in the US especially, alongside the rising popularity of vaping is what has catapulted Apple into action. It could be that they've been quietly watching and waiting from the very beginning (it doesn't always pay to be an early adopter when it comes to potential controversial topics or ideas), and waiting for the ideal time to put their own stamp on the vaping market.

How an Apple-led vaping device would be priced is anyone's guess however if you compare the iPhone to an Android smartphone with similar specifications, and consider the fact that the previously mentioned Firefly vaporizer retails at over $300 it is safe to assume that any vaping release from Apple could come with a hefty price tag. Or so we assume.

Knowing Apple as we do, or rather from previous performance across a number of technological releases, it's safe to say that if Apple decide to move forward with a vaping device that their aim will likely be for it to be faster, smarter, more enjoyable and have something special that no other vaporizer has.

All of this (the patent application) could of course simply mean that Apple are taking an interest, getting a foot in the door, staking some territory in a tentative way, not that they have any solid plans for the release of their own brand of e cigarette vaporizer.

Time will most definitely tell and in the meantime the vaping world will be keeping their eyes on Apple for additional updates!