Apple has been granted a patent for “Sag Compensation for Deformable Lens.” The company wants its upcoming foldable iPhone to be crease-free. This patent likely refers to that.
About the patent
This patent relates generally to a sag compensation structure that compensates for gravity sag of a deformable lens membrane.
In it, apple notes that optics systems may be used in various types of devices and applications. A camera in a mobile multifunction device, for example, may include an optics system and an image sensor. An optics system may include one or more optical elements, such as a lens.
Some optics systems may include a deformable membrane that functions as a lens. In some systems, an actuator may be used to change the shape of the deformable membrane to vary the optical power and/or other optical characteristics of the lens.
Summary of the patent
Here’s Apple’s abstract of the patent: “Various embodiments include a sag compensation structure that may be used to compensate for gravity sag of a deformable lens membrane. In some embodiments, the sag compensation structure may be combined with a lens assembly comprising the deformable lens membrane. The sag compensation structure may include one or more sag compensation membranes that may interface with fluids to provide the gravity sag compensation.
“According to some embodiments, the lens assembly may include a lens that corrects for one or more optical aberrations of the deformable lens membrane. The sag compensation structure may be disposed between the deformable lens membrane and the lens that corrects for the optical aberration(s), in some embodiments.”
About the ‘iPhone Fold’
Apple will offer the “iPhone Fold” in three different storage capacities, according to the leaker known as “Instant Digital” — as noted by MacRumors.
The foldable smartphone will purportedly be offered in 236GB, 512GB, and 1TB options for US$2,320, $2,610, and $2,900, respectively. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has offered some new details on what we can expect from Apple’s first foldable smartphone: the “iPhone Fold” (or perhaps it will be dubbed the “iPhone Ultra”).
From his report: The product — Apple’s long-awaited entry into the category — will feature an interior foldable display roughly the size of an iPad mini, according to people with knowledge of the matter. There also will be an external screen that’s about the size of the display on a small iPhone.
…. Apple is developing new iOS app layouts and revamping its core iPhone programs to add sidebars along the left edge of the screen, similar to many of its iPad apps. Developers will also be able to adapt their iPhone software for the new interface, which will use proportions similar to an iPad in landscape mode.
Gurman says the iPhone Fold won’t run similarly sized iPad mini or offer a windowing system a la iPadOS 26.
When it comes to the foldable iPhone, Apple manufacturing partners have received orders from tech giant for the upcoming “iPhone Fold,” according to the Weibo account “Fixed Focus Digital.” According to the rumor, the foldable iPhone will have:
° A 7.8-inch inner display;
° A crease depth controlled to under 0.15 mm. Crease depth refers to how deep the groove or indentation at the fold is. A smaller number means the crease is shallower and less noticeable to the eye and to the touch.
° The crease angle is said to be under 2.5 degrees. Crease angle describes how sharp the fold line appears when the display is unfolded, which is measured as the angle formed at the crease area. A smaller angle indicates a smoother, flatter transition across the fold, rather than a sharp ridge or valley.
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