Apple has been granted various patents for such a foldable iPhone, and now the company has filed for another patent for “electronic devices having displays with expanded edges.” An “iPhone Fold” is expected to arrive in 2026 or 2027.
About the patent filing
In the patent filing Apple says that if care isn’t taken, electronic devices with displays may not have a desired appearance or may be difficult to use satisfactorily. For example, displays may be bulky and unattractive or may not accommodate a desired electronic device shape.
Apple’s idea (at least in this patent) is for a device with a flexible display layer covered by a protective display cover layer. The flexible display layer may be an organic light-emitting diode display layer or other layer with a flexible substrate. The display cover layer may be formed from a layer of glass, clear polymer, or other protective material.
The flexible display layer may have a central region with peripheral edges. The central region may be rectangular, may be octagonal, or may have other shapes. Strip-shaped protrusions may extend along each of the edges of the central region. The strip-shaped protrusions may be bent downwardly so that the protrusions have curved surface profiles.
Summary of the patent filing
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent filing: “An electronic device may be provided with a display. The display may have a flexible display layer covered by a protective display cover layer. The flexible display layer may be an organic light-emitting diode display layer or other layer with a flexible substrate. The flexible display layer may have a central region with peripheral edges.
“The central region may be rectangular, may be octagonal, or may have other shapes. Strip-shaped protrusions may extend along each of the peripheral edges of the central region. The strip-shaped protrusions may be bent to provide the protrusions with curved surface profiles. The display cover layer may have a cushion shape with bowed edges that overlap parts of the strip-shaped protrusions, may have curved inner and outer surfaces and/or planar surfaces, may have rounded corners with compound curvature, may have edges with curved surface profiles, and/or may have other configurations.”
