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We've all been there. One slip of the hand, and your mobile hits the pavement with a loud crack, screen-side down.

Now Apple believes it has come up a solution that will allow its iPhones to reorientate themselves mid-air to lessen the force of impact.

While it may sound like something out of a science fiction film, the Cupertino-based company was today awarded a patent to build the system into future handset.

The document suggests Apple engineers will use the iPhone's internal vibration motor (right) to control the angle of the fall while it's mid-air. At the same type, various sensors - such as the accelerometer, GPS, gyroscopes and an ultrasonic emitter – would be used to analyse the phone's angle of descent in real-time

The patent includes descriptions of more advanced retractable air foils, similar to the ones Elon Musk is testing for his reusable Space X rockets, according to Tech Insider.

It also suggests developing internal mechanisms that jettison headphone cables, as well as tiny gas canisters that create thrust forces to slow down a fall.

Initially, however, the document suggests Apple engineers will use the iPhone's internal vibration motor to control the angle of the fall while it's mid-air.

While it may sound like something out of a science-fiction film, the Cupertino-based firm was today awarded a patent to possible create the system on future iPhones. Pictured is a drawing of the proposed mechanism

Pictured is a rear view of the phone, showing where the protective mechanism could be placed. Sensors would send information to the vibration motor to activate its spin and change the phone's centre of gravity

At the same type, various sensors - such as the accelerometer, GPS, gyroscopes and an ultrasonic emitter - would be used to analyse the phone's angle of descent in real-time.

A processor can then do a statistical analysis of the fall by comparing gathered data against other information stored in device memory.

This information is then sent to the vibration motor to activate its spin and change the phone's centre of gravity.

Apple's latest iPhone 6 and 6 Plus does not have the linear oscillating motors required to perform such a move, but older models did.

This suggests that the patent could easily incorporated to a future variant of the iPhone, according to Apple Insider.

The patent for a 'protective mechanism for an electronic device' was awarded by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to Apple's Nicholas V King and Fletcher Rothkopf.

New iPhones went on sale in September, but one of the first customers to get his hands on the phone managed to drop it as soon as he left the store (pictured)