Apple Just Filed a Patent for a Folding Display That Would Allow iPhones to Be ‘Opened and Closed Like a Book’
Flexible smartphones could be just around the corner.
Apple may be incorporating folding touchscreen technology into a future iteration of the iPhone. And, unlike the malleable construction of the iPhone 6 Plus, this one will be designed to bend.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently published Apple’s patent application for “an electronic device [that] may have a flexible portion that allows the device to be folded.”
Apple’s working on a foldable iPhone #Apple #FoldableiPhone #AppleNews pic.twitter.com/u7Or0mIIyP
— Aaron Mason (@AaronAMason) November 26, 2017
The application was filed on September 16, 2016. According to CNN, the company has previously been granted patents for similar folding products.
Apple has previously been awarded patents for flexible screens and a foldable phone with “carbon nanotubes” that bend to form the center hinge. Other Apple patents include a 360-degree screen that wraps entirely around a phone and smart glasses to rival Google’s failed Glass product.
It’s not the first buzz we’ve heard about foldable touch displays this year.
Forbes recently reported that Samsung plans to use “bent areas” on new displays that allow for screens to curve 180 degrees around the top, bottom and sides.
If you really want a folding phone, the ’90s era flip phone is tried-and-true.
h/t: Designboom, iDrop News
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