With Android smartphone makers going all in with the idea of foldable smartphones, it appears that Apple doesn't want to be left behind. A patent application filed by the Cupertino-based iPhone maker suggests that the company might be experimenting with multiple designs for a foldable iPhone. The sketches in the patent application indicate that both inward and outward folding designs might be under consideration by Apple for a possible foldable iPhone. There is also a mention of a double folding smartphone design that will create a triple stacked form factor.
Apple's patent application[1], that was published on the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) website recently, is titled “Flexible Display Devices” and serves as a not-so-subtle indication that a foldable iPhone is certainly on Apple's radar. While some of the designs in Apple's patent application point towards a practical device, they are merely concept ideas at this point and should not be taken as the definitive proof of a foldable iPhone being in development.
A few of the foldable device diagrams in Apple's patent application
Photo Credit: USPTO
The first sketch in Apple's patent application shows a foldable design that is quite similar to the rumoured clamshell form factor of Motorola's foldable Razr 2019[2] smartphone, complete with what appears to be a chin. Another diagram hints at an outward folding design that we've already seen on the Royole FlexPai[3] and might witness it again on the recently leaked[4] foldable smartphone from Vivo's new iQoo[5] sub-brand. There are also diagrams depicting an inward-folding mechanism for a foldable Apple device that might look like Samsung's rumoured foldable smartphone[6] that is set to be launched[7]...