Apple receives patent for foldable devices
Could the iPhone of the future have a bigger screen that folds in half when you’re not using it? A site called Patently Apple uncovered a patent granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a mobile device that would fold down the middle.
Patently Apple, which covers news about Apple’s patents for potential new technology, reports that the company has been filing patents for versions of technology since 2013. The most recent patent centers on a design that uses carbon nanotubes that allow for bending down the center of the device.
The foldable design is somewhat reminiscent of flip phones from the past. But unlike your old Razr phone, this technology would allow future devices to have a much bigger screen.
CNET editor Dan Ackerman told CBS News that the concept of a larger, flexible screen that can fold in half is something Apple has “been working on for a long time.”
Of course, the patent is no guarantee that this design will ever become a reality. Apple (and other tech companies) file for countless patents for potential innovations that will most likely never hit your local Apple store.
“There’s nothing more fun than digging through Apple patent applications because you see all kinds of crazy stuff, and 90 percent of it is never ever going to come out,” Ackerman said.
That being said, Ackerman suggested that examining these kinds of patents offers clues to Apple’s long-term strategy for coming up with new innovations.
Apple’s Chief Design Officer Jony Ive recently spoke with CNET exclusively about the company’s new MacBook design and hopes for the future.
Ackerman said it was particularly striking how Ive asserted that the company aspires to create designs that are not just “different” but also “better,” which poses a challenge in a marketplace saturated by high-end phones from the likes of Samsung and Google as well as the iconic iPhone.
“We’ve definitely hit a plateau in terms of what you do with that little rectangle of glass and metal, all of the smartphones kind of look the same,” Ackerman asserted. “The biggest development in the last couple of years was they made the edges a little curvier around the side. And that counts as a breakthrough these days.”