Apple seems to be looking at creating foldable smartphones in the future according to the latest information on the internet. This means that amidst the announcements regarding foldable smartphones by its rivals, the company is also looking in the same direction. This was revealed by a patent application that the company has filed with the U.S Patent and Trademark Office. As part of the patent application, the company is more focused on the coatings that will protect the display when the device in a bent state. This likely means that the company may also have filed other patents that describe the internal engineering of the bendable iPhones.
This patent was initially spotted by Patently Apple. Apple has invented a new coating with the help of a polymer along with pigment flakes which can be applied to foldable displays in “uniform thickness”. According to the patent, the company can use coating techniques including printing, spraying, or even spraying to apply the coating on the devices. This coating will increase the strength of the glass while allowing the device makers to flex the display.
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Taking a closer look at the description in the patent, it seems like the housing structure of the device will allow the device to bend. The structure will allow the device to bend in both configurations including the front-to-front fold and back-to-back fold where the top and the bottom of either the front or the back will be opposite to each other.
The smartphone industry refers to these folds as fold-in and fold-out configurations. The report noted that the application for the patent was initially filed back in March 2018 which means that it has been a while since the company started looking at such devices. The application states the inventors of the coating as Matt Rogers and James Wilson.
