Forget the rumored foldable iPhone. What about an “iPhone Stretch?” Or an “iPad Stretch” or even a “Mac Stretch”? Apple has filed for a patent for a “stretchable display.”
About the patent
In the patent filing, Apple notes that convention displays on electronic devices are usually rigid. There are also foldable displays and curved displays. However, Apple thinks that devices with stretchable displays could be a good idea.
We’re not talking about Stretch Armstrong-type stretching where you pull on the whole gadget. The patent filing is for a screen that can wrap around different surfaces and shapes, while still operating like a standard OLED display. The patent mentions phones, tablets, and laptops, but also watches, smart glasses, virtual reality headsets, and kiosk and car displays.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s (rather technical) abstract of the patent: “A display may have a stretchable portion with hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands. A flexible interconnect region may be interposed between the hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands. The hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands may include organic light-emitting diode (OLED) pixels.
“A conductive cutting structure may have an undercut that causes a discontinuity in a conductive OLED layer to mitigate lateral leakage. The conductive cutting structure may also be electrically connected to a cathode for the OLED pixels and provide a cathode voltage to the cathode. First and second inorganic passivation layers may be formed over the OLED pixels. Multiple discrete portions of an organic inkjet printed layer may be interposed between the first and second inorganic passivation layers.”
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