We tend to believe that future Apple devices with flexible displays will be iPhones or even iPads. Of the first, there are even sources that claim that they could arrive in 2022. However, we had not envisioned the possibility of seeing an Apple Watch with a flexible screen, as a recent patent registered by the company seems to indicate and that indicates that they are considering this possible design. for the future.
This would be this flexible Apple watch
The United States Patent and Trademark Office is the one that has confirmed the acceptance of an Apple document with which the company has registered a new prototype watch never seen to date. The report is not really very explicit as far as functionalities are concerned, although it serves to imagine where the shots of this hypothetical product could go.
The most striking thing is to visual effects and is that both the images and the text make references to a possible watch in which the screen is flexible and also runs along the strap , leaving behind the current centered and square design. It is not known if the part of the strap would also be interactive or would be purely informative, but it stands out with respect to the standard set by the classic watches and also the smart ones so fashionable in these years.
It is also said that the screen bezels could be optimized below 4 millimeters, even being eliminated in some parts. Regarding the screen, beyond the space it occupies and its flexibility, the type of technology is not detailed and if it could be a single element or be made up of several panels that, unified, form a single visual element.
Will this patent come true?
Taking into account that Apple registers dozens and dozens of patents every week and that one similar to this one is never remembered before, we can intuit that it would be at most a first step to a development that would be more marked in the long term. Sometimes projects are discarded for many reasons, be it their cost of development, their poor fit in the market or technical reasons that make them not of quality. In this case it is not an exception, but at least it serves to have evidence of one of the variants that Apple raises for its smart watch, which is currently the best-selling on the market.
Foldable iPhones seem much closer
Unlike in this case, foldable iPhones could be a reality soon. Except for surprise, it is not expected that this year they could be seen, but several analysts with sources close to Apple have said that next year we could see the company’s first smartphone with this format. Only a few months ago it was learned that two prototypes had successfully completed endurance tests with more than 10,000 folds that would guarantee their quality.
It is pending to know what format the company will bet on and what other novelties it would include to differentiate itself from its competition, especially considering that other manufacturers launched their first flexible unit a couple of years ago. In any case, it seems too early to confirm these data as well, so the next few months will be key to getting to know them with greater certainties.