Apple: Patented for foldable devices many times, 2020 foldable iPhone or available

According to analysts at Bank of America, Apple may launch an iPhone with a "foldable display" in the next few years. Analysts said that the iPhone or similar Apple device is expected to be officially launched in 2020, and Apple has already registered several related technology patents.

A few days ago, Bank of America Merrill Lynch analyst Wamsi Mohan wrote in a report to investors that Apple "is developing a foldable mobile phone." The analyst met and talked with several Asian Apple suppliers and, based on his own judgment, said that the device is very likely to be officially launched in the next two years.

Wamsi Mohan said that foldability is bound to become a big selling point for smartphones, because folding the larger screen into a smartphone-like device by default may mean "the tablet is doubled after the screen is expanded". In theory, such devices have two major advantages: one can bring the benefits of a large-screen device like the iPad or iPad mini, and the other is to maintain the portability of the smartphone.

In fact, there was a similar report in October last year, claiming that LG had already reached a cooperation with Apple and formed a special working group to create a foldable flexible OLED panel and a flexible printed circuit board for the iPhone, which will be supplied to Apple in the future. At the time, the report also pointed out that the related products are expected to start production in 2020.

In the past, based on the concept of providing users with a larger screen, in fact, major smartphone manufacturers have considered different ways to achieve. However, the so-called large-screen device was mainly composed of two independent display screens combined by a hinge mechanism. Although it can be folded, the screen is obviously divided into two halves, just like ZTE's folding mobile phone Axon M. The gap in the middle is too obvious to give a sense of the overallity of a single screen.

Over the years, as one of the largest manufacturers of display panels, LG has been researching and trying to solve this problem. There have been rumors that LG has already cooperated with Apple on this concept. Another display panel supplier, Samsung, has repeatedly demonstrated its concept smartphone based on flexible panel technology, and also said at the S9 conference that a machine that can be folded inward and outward is already under development. It is not clear whether Apple has chosen to have technical cooperation with Samsung.

Apple has patented foldable devices many times, and has multiple versions, some of which are hinged and some have no seams. In fact, the iPhone X, which has already been released today, is based on a flexible foldable panel design, but the iPhone needs to be further innovated so that the device can be rolled up like a newspaper, including the motherboard and battery, and the difficulty is really small. Can we see Apple's foldable iPhone in 2020? Wait and see.