Apple has filed a patent application for a foldable iPhone
By ForGeeks When it comes to a foldable iPhone, we’ve heard nothing but silence from Apple. There’s been speculation about a 20.3-inch MacBook with a foldable display, and that rumor came from one of the best analysts of all time, as TF International’s Ming-Chi Kuo said back in March that such a product was in development. Apple is rumored to be concerned about the durability of a foldable iPhone, but not as concerned about a foldable MacBook.
Nevertheless, Patently Apple reports that a patent application that Apple filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) back in October last year has been published by the USTPO and focuses on a hinge for the iPhone Flip. Entitled «Hinges for Foldable Devices» Apple writes: «A device with a foldable display may have body parts connected by a hinge. The flexible display may overlap the hinge. The foldable device may move between folded and unfolded positions using the hinge».
Apple writes.
The illustrations show a nondescript shell phone that folds around a vertical axis, similar to Galaxy Z Flip phones, Motorola Razr models, and other phones that fold in a similar fashion. The hinge moves both inward and outward, though the former movement is most associated with shell phones. Some outward-folding devices, such as the Honor V Purse, do exist.
Some outward-folding devices, such as the Honor V Purse, do exist.
The patent application mentions parts such as friction clips and synchronizing gear plates. The patent application doesn’t mean Apple is definitely working on an iPhone Flip. After all, the company files many patent applications a year, and only a small percentage of them become a product or part of a product.
After all, the company files many patent applications a year, and only a small percentage of them become a product or part of a product.
Apple may be considering a foldable iPhone in the form of the Galaxy Flip rather than the Fold. That could be due to sales data that shows the Galaxy Z Flip has been the best-selling foldable over the past three years, beating out the Galaxy Z Fold models.
The Galaxy Z Flip has been the best-selling foldable iPhone for the past three years, beating out the Galaxy Z Fold models.
