Apple's Ever Evolving Futuristic iPhone Form Factor has Front and Back Displays encased in Wraparound Glass
Apple has been evolving a new iPhone form factor since 2011. Apple has already been granted five patents for this form factor by adding new aspects to the phone such as using OLED displays. Our last granted patent report was published in May of this year.
Another related form factor patent granted to Apple in March pointed to using liquid metal as part of the design that merged metal and a transparent glass body.
Today the US Patent & Trademark Office published a continuation patent application from Apple that continues the work on this possible next-gen form factor that provides two displays encased within a wraparound glass enclosure.
The original form factor illustrated in Apple's patent figure below appeared to be close to an iPod nano 5th generation encasement as seen here.
In Apple's latest continuation patent that pushes a new iPhone form factor forward, they note in their new patent claims that the design could also be more rectangular.
Yesterday Patently Apple posted a report about the new Nubia X smartphone having a smaller secondary display on the phone's back side where it houses the selfie camera.
Apple's wraparound display reveals that content could wraparound from the front to the back display without a seam in the display to be seen. They repeat this in their final patent claim this way:
"The display assembly is configured to present visual content, the display assembly comprises a first end and a second end coupled to the first end at a joint, and the visual content extends continuously across the joint.
The continuation patent application further notes that a facial recognition camera would be a part of this new form factor which translates to Face ID being a part of this possible new form factor.
In addition, the new form factor would have the first and second displays overlap "to present 3D visual content."
Further into the patent filing Apple expands on the 3D visual content this way:
"For example, visual content can be presented by first flexible display out of temporal phase with the visual content presented by second flexible display. In this way, an illusion of depth perception can be presented mimicking a 3D experience."
The wraparound display will hide the internal components and circuit boards from sight.
Apple's continuation patent application '0329456 was filed back in April 2018. Considering that this is a patent application, the timing of such a product to market is unknown at this time.
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