Apple's New Patent Suggests More On Its Foldable Phone

Day by day, we get to see new rumors about another company developing a foldable phone. Starting with Samsung, now, leaks suggest that Huawei, Xiaomi, LG, Motorola, Lenovo are all working on their own foldable or bendable phones. And it’s Apple’s turn.

On Thursday, Apple’s updated patent shows drawings of a foldable clamshell phone. This update follows a patent filed in 2011, which was first updated in 2016 illustrating a flexible display.

What’s special about this update from Apple is the time it comes out, right ahead of Samsung’s scheduled date for showing off its alleged Galaxy X, the foldable smartphone, along with the Samsung Galaxy S10.

As in the patent, we can see a phone capable of folding in half. We have seen the same approach in Motorola’s patent for the updated version of the RAZR so that the phone can fit in users’ pockets. On the other hand, the way Samsung and Xiaomi design their foldable handsets focus more on transforming a phone into a small tablet.

In its patent, the iPhone maker illustrates a handful of ways to incorporate hinges and house around an OLE display which is bendable. The patent also includes drawings of a clamshell design as well as another illustration of trifold design. Accordingly, Apple has designed a flexible screen that is able to fold inward and outward, possibly used for iPad or MacBook.

Apple hasn’t responded to a comment request.

Before any official statements or new leaks about Apple’s foldable devices come out, we are still waiting to see more details about its 2019 iPhones, also called iPhone 11. Up to now, we have learned a few things about the series, including a triple camera setup on the rear and the series is likely to mix OLED and LCD screens like the iPhone X series. Plus, early rumors said the iPhone 11 will house USB-C port instead of Lightning port, but a recent leak has suggested the opposite.

Anyway, foldable or normal iPhones, there’s more ahead to look forward to.