New Apple patent stocks rumours of foldable iPhone

A newly published Apple patent application helps fuel claims that the tech giant is working on releasing a foldable iPhone. According to the patent published by the US Patent & Trademark Office, it describes the device as: “An electronic device may have a flexible portion that allows the device to be folded. The device may have a flexible display. The flexible display may have a bending region that allows the display to bend along a bend axis when the device is folded.”

The rumours about Apple working on a device with a foldable display have been around since last year. Some claim Apple will be working with LG. Just last month, a report says Apple was planning to invest in an LG plant to help produce the foldable display. The reports mention the use of an OLED panel. The patent application though covers everything from LCD, OLED, to microLED. And while this patent shows us the possibility of a foldable iPhone being in our future. It must be noted still that Apple patents a lot of things that don’t see the light of day.

Source: 9to5Mac

Huawei is working on its own foldable phone, too

The big things in smartphone tech right now are the dual camera setup, no headphone jacks, and almost bezel-less displays. But it looks like the next thing we’re going to be seeing a lot of is foldable phones. ZTE has the Axon M and Samsung and LG have announced they are working on their own versions, too. Now, Huawei is looking to join the fray. The company’s CEO Richard Yu told CNET during the Mate 10 launch that they already have a prototype version of a foldable phone. And we can’t expect it to come out this year, instead Yu said the device might debut in 2018, which is also the timeline Samsung is giving for its foldable Galaxy X.

What’s holding them back is the available flexible screen technology at the moment as well as the need for a better mechanical design that what it currently has. Yu said, “We have two screens, but we still have a small gap. That’s not good, and we should get rid of the gap.”

Samsung plans to unveil a bendable Galaxy Note in 2018

Mockup of a bendable Samsung

With the Galaxy Note8 barely out of Samsung’s stables, the South Korean company is looking at the future and thinking it might be time they did something new with their Note line. Samsung announced at an event in Seoul, South Korea that it plans for the next iteration of the Galaxy Note to be somewhat bendable. According to Dongjin Koh, president of mobile business at Samsung, they are still working on surpassing some hurdles and will push back release if they don’t get these resolved.

“When we can overcome some problems for sure, we will launch the product,” said Koh. “We are digging thoroughly into several issues we must overcome, as we don’t want to just make a few, sell a few and be done. We want to hear that Samsung made a very good product. We have a plan to adopt a foldable display in our roadmap.” This is the first time Samsung has publicly acknowledged that they are working on a smartphone with a foldable display. But it has been rumoured countless times that they're working on this.

Source: The Verge + MacRumors