Apple patents a foldable iPhone capable of self-repair

Patent details

The patent, titled Electronic Devices with Flexible Display Cover Layers, shows that Apple would be attempting a foldable, self-repairing iPhone.

Like other foldable devices, this one would have a hinge and a flexible display layer. These screens, like those on the Samsung Galaxy Flip and Fold 5, the Pixel Fold, or the OnePlus Open, are thinner than those on a typical flagship phone, allowing them to flex, but also making them much more susceptible to bumps or scratches.

Apple is patenting a solution where the phone has a “self-healing material” coating on the top of the screen that “could fill the dent even without external intervention,” according to Patently Apple.

Self-healing process

In some other designs, the phone would provide heat, light, or an electrical current to the surface to stimulate that repair process. This could include “transparent conductors” that heat the screen cover layer when the device is charging or when users activate it.

This foldable design could not only be a phone, but also any laptop or tablet, according to the patent. Apple has previously filed patents detailing self-healing iPhones, although not in the context of a foldable display.

Future perspectives

The patent was first discovered by Patently Apple, along with two dozen other patents newly granted to the Cupertino, California company.

As is usual with patent applications, This doesn’t mean we’ll see it in a product anytime soon, but it does seem to indicate that Apple is seriously thinking about a foldable product.

Last year, a design for a foldable iPhone with a waterfall display was reported. Additionally, there have been some other reports indicating that Apple is designing a clamshell foldable and a foldable iPad.

Background with LG

LG previously showed off the possibilities of a self-healing backplate on its G Flex curved phone.

Recently, there has been talk of self-healing displays, with analytics firm CCS Insight noting that technology for “nanocoatings” that fill in gaps when the underlying layer is exposed to air could arrive in the coming years.

The general concept behind self-healing isn’t that massive scars come together before your eyes, but it would reduce the damage from small scratches on sensitive screens like those seen on foldable devices.