New patent hints at new form factor for the iPhone

Nov 24, 2017 11:04 GMT  ·  By

Now that Apple has finally made the move from LCD to OLED with the iPhone X, the company can start exploring other display tech, and it looks like one possible project could involve a foldable iPhone.

While this isn’t the first time we hear about a foldable iPhone, a new patent published by the USPTO reveals that Apple is indeed considering such a project that relies on a display “opened and closed like a book.”

“An electronic device may have a flexible portion that allows the device to be folded. The device may have a flexible display. The flexible display may have a bending region that allows the display to bend along a bend axis when the device is folded,” the summary section of the patent explains.

Also working on laptops and tablets

At first glance, this particular technology makes more sense on other devices like digital journals similar to Microsoft’s Courier, it appears that Apple is indeed exploring ways to bring it to the iPhone at some point in the future.

“Device […] may be a laptop computer, a tablet computer, a cellular telephone, a wristwatch, or other electronic device (e.g., a portable device, handheld device, etc.),” the patent also explains, hinting that if this tech is indeed adopted, it could be used on several other Apple products.

Apple is known as a company that makes certain features available across all its devices, and the most recent tech that could be borrowed from the iPhone and launched on iPads and MacBook is said to be the Face ID facial recognition system.

As far as foldable displays are concerned, it’s believed Apple could work with LG to manufacture them, as relying on Samsung no longer seems to be an option. Samsung makes the iPhone X displays, but people close to the matter said Apple is trying to cut reliance on the South Korean firm for future products.

Of course, patents are by no means confirmation that new tech is ready for mass production, but they do serve as living proof that manufacturers are at least considering developing certain ideas that could help improve their products.