Apple Patent Shows Unique Hinge Design: Foldable iPhone Likely On Cards?

Foldable smartphones are the latest rage. A few Android OEMs such as Samsung and LG have already launched such products and many others are following their footprints. Now, it looks like Apple is also looking forward to bring such a smartphone into the market. We say so as an alleged patent filed by the company is making rounds on the internet.

The new patent that has surfaced online seems to show a unique hinge design. This hints that the company might be working on various ideas via these patents. Previously, we saw a patent that showcased how a display can expand with the hinge articulation points and realize a future foldable iPhone.

New Apple Patent

As per a recent by AppleInsider, the Cupertino-based tech giant has recently published a patent titled "Electronic devices having folding expandable displays". It looks like Apple has patented specific designs for the foldable iPhone previously and this is another proof hinting that it could launch a foldable smartphone in the future.

However, one thing that has to be noticed in the latest patent filing is that the company has worked on the hinge structure. It shows a multi-link hinge structure, which points out that the hinge does not comprise of just a single mechanism but several complex structures in it.

Furthermore, the patent shows that the hinge structure can comprise gear teeth, belts it other movement synchronization structures. Also, it could have elements that are more relative to each other while bending the screen.

What We Think

As of now, there is no word regarding foldable iPhones from Apple and only the patent filings hint at the possibilities of such models in the future. However, we like to stress that not all parent filings some to reality. So, it remains to be seen if the foldable concept we saw above will make it to reality or not.