There are a few video ringtone apps for the iPhone already available but Apple being Apple can of course do it better, and apparently Apple may well be looking at bringing video ringtones to iOS if a patent is anything to go by.

According to an article over on iPhone Download Blog, the guys over at Patently Apple have uncovered an Apple patent, which was apparently filed last year by a couple of Apple engineers, Michael Neuman and Brian McKnight.

The paten shows a method for creating video ringtones in the iPhone operating system that would apparently enable the user to automatically use video and audio from iMovie and iTunes to create a custom alert for incoming calls.

Furthermore, Apple takes things a step further with possibly multi-layered animations and 3D content, with layers independently animated whilst being based on the different characteristics of an audio track.

Of course many patents never make it to the production line and onto products, but with the iPhone 5 speculations on a dual-core processor, it is possible that video ringtones could become a reality in iOS, then again this one could also fall by the wayside.

So what do our reader’s think, would the ability to create video ringtones be a neat idea for the next generation iPhone?