The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office awarded Apple a patent for a foldable electronic device with touch sensors on February 14th.
Users of the foldable device would be able to use multiple touch points beyond the main display to control features such as volume, the camera, screen brightness and color settings. Think solid state rather than mechanical buttons.
In the patent application, Apple explains: “It can be challenging to gather touch input from a user and to display images for a user efficiently,” Apple writes. “For example, when a user supplies touch input to a touch screen display, the user’s hand may block images that are being displayed on the display. Buttons and other input devices may be used to gather input from a user, but this type of input device may not be as convenient and versatile as a touch sensor.”
“Displays are sometimes not visible from certain directions and may be smaller than desired,” Apple continues. “It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide electronic devices with enhanced touch sensor and display structures.”
“A foldable electronic device may have a flexible transparent wall portion that joins planar transparent walls,” Apple explains. “Components may be interposed between the transparent planar walls and opaque walls. Display and touch layers may be overlapped by the transparent walls and the transparent flexible wall portion. Additional touch layers may be overlapped by the opaque walls.”
MacDailyNews Take: Late last month, TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said that Apple is preparing to launch a foldable iPad with a carbon fiber kickstand in 2024.
Foldable displays make far more sense for tablets than for smartphones.
“Too thick when folded” is why it makes perfect sense for Apple to do a foldable display first with iPad, a device that is not carried in pockets and where thickness when folded is therefore not an issue. – MacDailyNews, February 17, 2020
In October 2022, Ben Wood, chief of research at CCS Insight, said that Apple would likely launch an iPad with a folding screen in 2024, corroborating Kuo’s January report.
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Shop The Apple Store at Amazon.
Some food for thought…
Plastic screens – When using it the way it was intended even the best plastic will fatigue and break far faster than a slab of glass.
The hinge – forget durability when you have a built in structural failure point.
Supported apps – Not a major issue because Apple can build this into the development tool with a software update.
User usability – folded items are obviously thicker when folded, so if a tablet ends up thicker than a laptop, would you really use such a cumbersome device instead of a laptop for the cost?
Let’s see where this goes.
I’m still waiting for my EFC Global.
The, I Miss My Horse and Buggie crowd are at the door with spears ready to revolt.
So is the Fold My MONEY and Put It Back In My Wallet crowd.
Having a nice party out here without you…
Looks like a Surface Duo from 2020, YAWN. Oh, it’ll be a true one-screen foldable? Ok, with the same foldable screen sourced from Samsung that’ll be in the Galaxy Fold 6? Very innovative, cutting edge Apple..