Oliver Haslam on October 28, 2020, 1:08 am

Apple’s Latest Patent Points To Work On Foldable iPhone Screen That Won’t Crack

A new patent granted to Apple suggests that the company is hard at work on a new type of foldable display that won’t crack like some other, existing technologies do.

The new patent is number 10,817,016 and carries the title “Hybrid coverlay/window structure for flexible display applications.”

According to a Patently Apple report, the new patent is for a layer that would protect the underlying display from cracking when the device is being folded and unfolded.

Apple’s granted patent is focused on correcting display cracking issues found in foldable devices today from Samsung and others which has definitely turned off consumers to the whole idea of foldable smartphones. Apple’s patent specifically relates to protective cover layer structures for smartphones, and more particularly for flexible displays that could fold while being crack resistant.

Apple’s patent would see its displays be less prone to micro cracks during use, something that has always been a concern for foldable devices. However, this wouldn’t make the device impervious to any form of cracking and it isn’t clear what the downsides of such an approach might be.

It is, as always, important to remember that not all of Apple’s patents turn into products that are sold in its stores. Apple applies for patents relating to pretty much everything it works on.

That being said, there’s little doubt that Apple is keen to come up with something that could work in the foldable world – whether that’s an iPhone that gets smaller or an iPad that could do double duty as a smartphone as well.

Apple won’t enter the foldable market until it’s ready – and it’s sure that its devices won’t suffer from any of the issues traditional foldable screens do.