Over the past year or so, we have seen a shift in smartphone design and phone makers are now experimenting with foldable, swivel, or wrap-around display phones. Some are working on out-of-the-box designs for their foldable devices. And according to a recent patent, Apple also seems to be dabbling with the idea of an iPhone with a slide-out display.
Apple recently filed a patent application titled “Electronic Devices Having Sliding Expandable Displays.” And according to this patent, the Cupertino-based tech giant is considering the use of flexible displays for its future devices. This will let users slide out an extended part of the display to get more screen real-estate when needed.
“If care is not taken, a display may not offer sufficient screen real estate to display information of interest to a user. At the same time, it can be difficult to enlarge the size of electronic devices too much to accommodate larger displays, because this can make devices too bulky,” states the application.
How Will It Work?
To prevent phones from getting bigger and bulkier, Apple proposes to develop a unique sliding mechanism. The screen will be built inside a special housing, as per the patent application. Now, whenever there is a need to expand the screen, both the housing and the screen will “slide relative to each other.”
The descriptions of the display in the patent application suggest that the company is planning to use a more rigid display that would slide in and out of the special housing. Moreover, all the drawings of the tech in the application show a roller-mechanism for a “double-back portion of a flexible display may be stored in an interior of the housing.”
Now, we have seen a lot of crazy patents from Apple over the years. However, as we always say, there is a minimal chance that the company will actually use the tech in their devices in the near future.
So, if I were you, I would take this information with a grain of salt and stop dreaming about an Apple iPhad (iPhone + iPad) launch. Sorry, could not come up with anything better. But if you do, let us know down in the comments.
