Looking at Apple's patents may be a way to look into the future of the iPhone, Stembridge said. "If a company takes the time and trouble to fill out a patent application for a technology, there's at least an interest in pursuing that," he added.

Stembridge's report also noted that Apple has aggressively defended its patents in recent years.

Apple has filed for about 1,200 mobile-related patents, including 416 smartphone-related patents, since introducing the iPhone in 2007, the report said. The company has filed for 279 mobile camera patents, 232 user interface patents and 149 image display patents since then.

Before 2007, Apple had applied for just 17 mobile patents, the report said.

From 2008 to July of this year, Apple has been involved in 479 patent lawsuits, including 263 as a defendant, 120 as a counter-claimant and 51 as a plaintiff, the report said. In 2011, alone the company was involved in about 150 patent lawsuits, and in 2012, the company has filed 19 patent lawsuits, compared to 12 in each of the full years of 2010 and 2011, and less than five in each year between 2007 and 2009, according to the report.