Apple could be working on stretchable screens for its iPhones

Apple could be working on a ‘stretchable display’ for its screens, according to a new patent filing from the tech giant. 

While foldable display screens are nothing new – such as we’ve seen with Samsung’s Flip and Fold phones – Apple has so far resisted getting on board with the new technology. 

However, this could be set to change – at least according to a new patent the company has filed. 

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Apple has filed a patent for a ‘stretchable display’

Spotted by AppleInsider, the patent is simply titled ‘Stretchable Display’ and is credited to an ‘unusually high’ number of inventors.

The website notes that a typical range is between one and 10, whereas the ‘Stretchable Display’ has 55. 

Most are based in either California or Taiwan, which should come as little surprise given that the tech giant has research centers housed there. 

The patent has 14 images – most of which are diagrams and illustrations on how the tech might work – and details how a display may incorporate ‘a stretchable portion with hermetically sealed rigid pixel islands’. 

It doesn’t explain how or why such a display would be used – but it does cover several devices, including laptops and phones. 

There’s also a heavy hint it could be used on wearable tech, with the patent adding ‘a smaller device such as a wrist-watch device, a pendant device, a headphone or earpiece device, a device embedded in eyeglasses or other equipment worn on a user’s head, or other wearable or miniature device’.

Of course, simply filing a patent doesn’t necessarily mean that Apple is going to be launching stretchy screens any time soon – or even at all – but it’s a fairly safe bet to assume it’s something the company is at least looking into. 

The tech giant has previously filed for a ‘self-healing’ displays

Earlier this year, Apple filed a patent named ‘Electronic Devices with Flexible Display Cover Layers’, sparking rumors it was working on foldable screens with the ability to ‘heal’ themselves. 

“Self-healing may occur in the layer of self-healing material without prompting (e.g., when the self-healing coating is dented, the material of the coating may fill the dent even without external intervention).

“Alternatively, the self-healing may be initiated or expedited by externally applied heat, light, electric current, or other type of external stimulus,” the patent’s filing notes read.

It’s early days, but it sounds like we could be seeing some next-level iPhones coming out in the future.