Apple patents pop up every week, but very few come close to the sheer awesomeness of the idea behind the one showing up online today. This iPhone patent shows what our favorite fruit company is thinking regarding the use of curved glass and flexible displays.
What you’re looking at in the image above is an iPhone which is rounded, seamless piece of glass with a flexible AMOLED. Or, in the words of Apple’s patent filing: And ”Electronic device with wrap around display.”
The patent details a display which wraps around the entire device, and has some built in innovative features like facial recognition, and the ability to mimic 3D by layering multiple displays on top of each other. The flexible display itself is inserted in to the glass frame by having it rolled up, before unrolling it in to the glass frame.
All the components are mounted in the center of the device. And, instead of having physical mute and volume buttons, you use gestures on specific parts of the display to increase/decrease volume and control the device.
While this patent may be incredibly exciting. It’s important to note that most patents we see published don’t ever make it to market. Even if Apple did want to produce this devices, we know that making curved glass strong enough isn’t something easily manufactured now. So, we’re looking at a good few years before this becomes a reality. That’s IF it’s going to be a reality.
