“In November Apple was granted a surprise patent for a possible future foldable iPhone using advanced carbon nanotube structures,” Jack Purcher reports for Patently Apple.
“Patently Apple was first to discover Apple’s original European patent filing for flexible display that could fold back in January 2014,” Purcher reports. “In December we posted a report titled ‘A Leading Supplier of Foldable Display Technology Confirms Five Tech Companies are Testing Foldable Smartphones.'”
“Apple along with Microsoft and others have been mentioned in a few tech reports claiming that they’re working on foldable smartphones and tablets. Microsoft recently surprised the market with a detailed patent covering such devices,” Purcher reports. “One of the designs that seems to be popular in the initial stages of foldable devices is the ‘Fold-Out’ form factor as noted in the Lenovo prototype illustrated [in the full article]. As you could see by our cover graphic, Apple’s patent figures clearing indicate that this future smartphone or mini-tablet could be folded.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Imagine this invention used not just in an iPhone, but also in an iPad and a MacBook.