Apple patent filing involves hinged links for foldable iPhones

Apple has filed for a patent (number 20230049811 A1) for “hinges for folding display devices.” It’s yet another patent/patent filing that hints at future foldable iPhones and/or iPads.

In the patent filing Apple notes that a foldable electronic device may have a display formed from a flexible display panel that overlaps a bend axis. The device may have first and second housing portions coupled by a hinge. The device may be opened and closed by rotating first and second housing portions about the bend axis.

I still don’t think that Apple will make a “foldable” iPhone. Sure, the company has been granted various patents for such a device. However, the tech giant is granted patents for many inventions that never see the light of day.

I could be wrong, of course, and according to The Elec, Apple is expected to use “hybrid” OLED panels in its first OLED iPad that it will launch in a few years. Hybrid OLED panels refer to OLED panels that use both rigid OLED panel and flexible OLED panel technologies.

What does this have to do with an “iPhone Fold”? The Elec says Apple isn’t too keen on using flexible OLED panels — which are mostly used in premium smartphones — as some parts of the screen may look crumpled. The crumples are likely caused by how flexible OLED panels are made. The Elec claims that Samsung Display and LG Display are currently developing an ultra-thin glass substrate for use in hybrid OLED panels that aren’t as prone to crumpling.

I think that Apple is more likely to release an “iPhone Curve” than an “iPhone Fold.” The giant has filed for various patents that hint at a curved iPhone with a wraparound display. 

For example, patent filing 202200111822 is for an “electronic device with wrap around display.” It’s designed to expand “the functionality of portable electronics devices by providing a more efficient mechanism for presenting visual content is disclosed.