Surely, you’ll agree with us that one of the worst things about smartphones is their fragility. Irrespective of whether or not the phones are expensive, they easily get scratches or even have broken screens. Well, it seems Apple is already working on new ways to provide solutions to the challenge. According to the latest report, the Cupertino-based company has now filed a patent application for a self-healing display, likely for its foldable iPhone.
Apple Patent Hints At A Foldable iPhone With Self-Healing Display
Apple has now filed a new patent, which comes with number 20200313111, for “electronic devices with flexible display cover layers”. The patent hints at a new Apple foldable iPhone that will come with a self-healing display. Furthermore, the patent was published today by the US Patent & Trademark Office.
The essence of the self-healing display is that it’ll help to address the issue of scratches on the foldable iPhone. At times, when you fold a foldable device that has dust on its screen, it can cause a scratch or dent on the display. Well, that’s exactly the challenge that the new patent looks to address. It’ll help to minimize the presence of scratches and dents on the device’s screen using a couple of methods.
Here’s a brief of what the patent says about the challenge and the possible solution.
“During the operation of an electronic device, the display cover layer for the electronic device may scratch or dent. To improve the aesthetics of the electronic device, it may be desirable for the presence of scratches to minimize. To help mitigate the number of dents, scratches, or other imperfections in a display cover layer, the display cover layer may include a layer of self-healing material.”
Furthermore, the patent, for the self-healing display for foldable iPhone, reveals that it’ll make sense for the device to repair itself immediately and automatically, without having to wait for the user to perform anything. Here’s what the new patent says regarding that below:
“…when the self-healing coating is dented, the material of the coating may fill the dent even without external intervention”.
The Alternative Method
In the past, Apple has mentioned something relating to using heat to prevent damages on smartphones from happening. Well, the new patent has also spoken about it. Speaking of that, the patent suggests an alternative way to repair the device. And that is to initiate the self-healing by applying external heat, light, or electric current. You can check below to see what the patent says about the alternative method.
“Alternatively, the self-healing may be initiated or expedited by externally applied heat, light, electric current, or other types of external stimulus.
“When heat is in use as a stimulus for the self-healing process, the display cover layer may include transparent conductors that form a heating layer in the display cover layer. The heating layer may be to generate heat to stimulate self-healing. The heating layer may be used to generate heat in response to user input, according to a predetermined schedule, or when the electronic device is charging.”
Looking at the patent, you’ll agree that it doesn’t strike a specific point regarding how the healing process will work. Additionally, it also doesn’t reveal the amount of damage that it could reverse or how long the process will take. For now, it’s not clear yet whether Apple will put the patent to work. However, you can expect that the company will release a foldable iPhone sooner or later.
