Earlier this week, Samsung showed off its first foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Fold, a $2,000 device that will be available in April this year. However, we have seen many patents filed by Apple lately that reveals the company may actually working on a foldable iPhone, but that might take some years before it becomes reality. So if Apple wants to make a foldable phone, they might need to rely on Samsung for that.
Dutch industrial designer Roy Gilsing shared his foldable iPhone concept, give us an idea of how could Apple implement the technology into their devices. Just like the Galaxy Fold, the device let you switch seamlessly between the phone and tablet mode. When it's in tablet mode, it can be used in both portrait and landscape and allows a partial fold and turns it into a mini-laptop with a touchscreen keyboard.
Clearly, Apple did put some effort into researching the tech, as one of their foldable patents showed that in order to prevent such designs from causing severe damage to the screen, the company discusses the use of "elastic materials, fluids and other materials" to fill the recessed areas in the middle. The patent was submitted on June 8, 2016, that's more than 2 years ago.
At least one analyst expect that Apple won't release a foldable iPhone until 2020 at earliest, otherwise, they may not going to release it at all.
Dutch industrial designer Roy Gilsing shared his foldable iPhone concept, give us an idea of how could Apple implement the technology into their devices. Just like the Galaxy Fold, the device let you switch seamlessly between the phone and tablet mode. When it's in tablet mode, it can be used in both portrait and landscape and allows a partial fold and turns it into a mini-laptop with a touchscreen keyboard.
Clearly, Apple did put some effort into researching the tech, as one of their foldable patents showed that in order to prevent such designs from causing severe damage to the screen, the company discusses the use of "elastic materials, fluids and other materials" to fill the recessed areas in the middle. The patent was submitted on June 8, 2016, that's more than 2 years ago.
At least one analyst expect that Apple won't release a foldable iPhone until 2020 at earliest, otherwise, they may not going to release it at all.