Apple is working on self-healing coatings for future foldables
- Apple has patented a self-healing coating for a foldable phone.
- The patent describes how the foldable can effectively buff away scratches on its surface without user intervention.
Foldable phones are a boon for anyone looking for tablet-sized displays in smartphone-sized housings. There is one drawback, however. Since conventional scratch-resistant glass does not bend, the durability of the display must be impaired. Now it seems that a new patent from Apple may address this issue.
Speckled by Apparently AppleThe company’s new foldable designs were submitted in January 2020 but showed up this week. It provides details on a self-healing material, apparently elastomeric based, that could allow the displays of foldable phones to automatically fill in those inevitable scratches and surface damage.
As described in the tray, the self-healing coating can be applied to the internal folding display of the leaflet or to the exterior of the phone. In any case, the self-healing properties remain the same. If damaged, the coating can repair itself without user intervention. Interestingly, the healing process can also be accelerated by using heat, light or electric current.
In order to ensure that the display is sufficiently flexible, it can also have slots or grooves into which the self-healing coating can be filled. The patent doesn’t explain whether the display itself could use a more durable material using this method.
While this is a novel concept for leaflets, Apple isn’t the first company to look at self-healing coatings on smartphones. LG launched its crazy G Flex in 2013 and the G Flex 2 with self-healing coatings on the back in 2015. Motorola has also developed heat-activated self-healing coatings, although we have not yet seen a phone from this company offering this technology.
We haven’t seen much evidence that Apple is actively working on a foldable device, but the patent makes it clear that the company is looking for ways to mitigate the main form factor issues before launching its own device. Other patents discovered by Apple suggest that the company is also trying to remove the unsightly screen crease on most leaflets, a technology that could also be used on a foldable iPad or MacBook.
We should stress that this filing also doesn’t specifically mean we’ll see a collapsible Apple device in the near future, but if we do it could be one of the more durable devices available.
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