In March 2021, Patently Apple posted a continuation patent report titled "Apple Finally Reveals that one of their Foldable Display Patents is now Focused on being a Foldable Laptop." That same patent that we covered in 2020 was generically about foldable devices without a target device. The revelation of the target device being a laptop was discovered in Apple's updated patent claims.

In April 2020 Patently Apple posted an Apple granted patent report relating to a future foldable devices including one with a trifold construction. Once again, the patent described foldable devices without committing to a single device.

Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published another continuation patent application from Apple relating to the 2020 invention that we covered but this time they clearly revealed in 20 updated patent claims that the invention relates to a foldable "laptop." Whether Apple would brand it a MacBook, such as a MacBook Fold or create a new category for this type of device is unknown at this time.

Apple's 20 New Patent Claims describe the Foldable Device as a "Laptop"

1. A laptop computer, comprising: a housing having an outer surface, an inner surface, and first and second housing portions coupled by a hinge, wherein the housing is operable in open and closed positions; a flexible display on the inner surface that spans at least partially across the first and second housing portions; an additional display on the outer surface; and a touch sensor configured to gather touch input on the outer surface when the housing is in the closed position.

2. The laptop computer defined in claim 1 wherein the flexible display and the additional display are formed from a common display layer.

3. The laptop computer defined in claim 1 wherein the additional display covers only a portion of the outer surface of the housing.

4. The laptop computer defined in claim 1 further comprising an opaque layer that overlaps a portion of the flexible display.

5. The laptop computer defined in claim 4 wherein the opaque layer comprises an opaque masking layer.

6. The laptop computer defined in claim 4 wherein the opaque layer comprises an opaque portion of the housing.

7. The laptop computer defined in claim 1 further comprising an additional touch sensor that gathers touch input on the flexible display.

8. The laptop computer defined in claim 7 wherein the additional touch sensor spans at least partially across the first and second housing portions.

9. The laptop computer defined in claim 7 wherein the touch sensor and the additional touch sensor share a common substrate.

10. The laptop computer defined in claim 7 wherein the flexible display and the additional touch sensor are configured to bend along a bend axis aligned with the hinge.

11. A laptop computer, comprising: a housing having an opaque portion, wherein the housing is operable in open and closed positions; a first display that is visible in the open position and hidden from view in the closed position; a second display that is visible in the open and closed positions; and a touch sensor that gathers touch input on the opaque portion of the housing.

12. The laptop computer defined in claim 11 wherein the housing comprises first and second housing portions coupled by a hinge.

13. The laptop computer defined in claim 12 wherein the first display comprises a flexible display that spans at least partially across the first and second housing portions.

14. The laptop computer defined in claim 11 further comprising an additional touch sensor that overlaps at least one of the first display and the second display.

15. The laptop computer defined in claim 11 wherein the housing comprises a sidewall and wherein the opaque portion is located on the sidewall.

16. A laptop computer, comprising: a foldable housing having an opaque portion and having first and second housing portions that fold relative to one another along a fold axis; a flexible display that overlaps the fold axis; and a touch sensor having a first portion that gathers touch input on the flexible display and a second portion that gathers touch input on the opaque portion of the foldable housing.

17. The laptop computer defined in claim 16 further comprising a display cover layer overlapping the flexible display.

18. The laptop computer defined in claim 17 wherein the display cover layer comprises glass.

19. The laptop computer defined in claim 16 further comprising an additional display on an outer surface of the foldable housing.

20. The laptop computer defined in claim 19 wherein the additional display is touch-sensitive.

To confirm the new patent claims review the Apple's continuation patent application number 20230136768.