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General Category | GDPR - Important notice => Patents, Software Patents, Patent applications => Topic started by: javajolt on February 19, 2019, 02:09:46 PM
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(http://i.postimg.cc/26p85KpG/apple-foldable-1.jpg)
It seems that over the past year we’ve seen more patents than in the whole last decade. That’s because we’re on the cusp on moving onto a new paradigm, involving foldable phones, tablets, foldable everything. Also interconnected with 5G… Apple can’t stay away from it, as shown by its latest patents, which we dissect below.
Apple patented a series of foldable display designs, which seem to predict their approach to being foldable. Apple is said to be planning its first foldable display device in 2020, aiming for a “different approach”. They’ve been working on it and patenting stuff as early as 2011, with an update in 2016 and now they have a plurality of diagrams.
(http://i.postimg.cc/1z770kR0/apple-foldable-2.jpg)
We have multiple versions of the foldable Apple device, including the most basic model of all, simply two parts and a hinge between them, with a foldable screen on the side. There’s also a vertical foldable device and one with a weird loop. Some of the designs feel like the Microsoft Surface devices, while others seem overcomplicated.
(http://i.postimg.cc/HsPJg3LZ/apple-foldable-3.jpg)
Apple seems to dislike curves, as their approach is mostly angular and reinforced with multiple components and layers. There’s the idea of having a folding body with screens on the outside, or folding screens, with the pliable parts within the screens. Multilink assemblies are also proposed and we see a device with varying levels of thickness, multiple flex points.
(http://i.postimg.cc/SsT4MT3H/apple-foldable-4.jpg)
Apple has a lot to choose from, including materials, hinges, components, the symmetry or lack of… Even a roll-up device is proposed at some point, or one that looks like a wallet. Also, they even tried out a triple display setup, like the famous Xiaomi leaked foldable phone. There’s no way to predict which of these will make it into production, so I guess we have to wait till 2020 to learn more.
(http://i.postimg.cc/XJ0LgnSC/apple-foldable-5-1024x534.jpg)
(http://i.postimg.cc/pT6THLW9/apple-foldable-6-1024x550.jpg)
source (http://tablet-news.com/apple-foldable-display-patents-reveals-multiple-foldable-device-formats/)