After Samsung’s failed Galaxy Fold and Huawei’s problems that put the Mate X on standby, it’s hard to believe any bigshot company will risk launching a foldable this year. Things may change in 2020 and even Apple may get on the bandwagon, as shown by one of their recent patents.
Apple recently got a patent for a foldable iDevice, that even proposes a double fold format. It’s not very clear from the patent shown here if there’s a single device that does the double folding or two separate machines. We’ve heard about foldable iPhones before and even seen a concept or two, so we’re not strangers to the idea.
The patent describes an “Electronic device having a flexible or bendable region” for an “electronic device having a display layer and a cover layer that are configured to fold or bend along a flexible or bendable region”. The patent also shows an extra fold, for a sort of appendix of the device, in a different way compared to the Xiaomi tri-fold machine, that opens two “wings” on the side.
The protective layer of the screen is reportedly made of a ceramic material, like glass, sapphire or zirconia. That feels like a sci-fi material though, as there’s no protection glass that can bend now. Apple also got another patent for a Smart Keyboard Folio, that will feature a trackpad on one side and a keyboard and Apple Pencil touch area on the other one.
