New patent provides look at Apple foldable device

Feb 15, 2019 09:16 GMT  ·  By

Foldable phones are the next big thing in the mobile industry, and companies like Samsung and Huawei are spearheading this new form factor.

However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that others aren’t thinking about it either, and Apple is one of the companies that actually explore foldable phones too.

While it goes without saying that you shouldn’t hold your breath for a foldable iPhone, a recent patent reveals that Apple has a slightly different idea as to what such a device should look like.

As compared to the companies mentioned above, who plan to use the foldable concept in order to increase the available screen estate, Apple is looking into a different approach that would make it possible for a larger phone to become smaller and thus easier to carry around.

Technically, Apple thinks that phones could fold using several hinges into a smaller form factor, which means that the device would offer a large screen in its default state, but become significantly smaller for portability.

Idea dating back to 2011

As DT notes, it’s not the implementation that matters right now, but the technology that Apple uses in this foldable phone, as the company could choose a different approach at any moment. In other words, if Apple does have the technology to create a foldable iPhone, it can further tweak it in a way that would allow more than one display to be used.

The interesting part is that this patent is a continuation of another patent, which itself is a continuation of another patent, and so on until we go all the way back to 2011. So yes, Apple envisioned foldable patents nearly eight years ago, only that the company never tried to do anything about it.

As with everything patent, you shouldn’t take this tech for granted, as it’s just an idea that Apple might just forget it existed and go forward with a different approach.