Apple Patents Phone With Wraparound Display

Apple patent filings can get pretty creative, and this latest revelation is as wild as it gets-- it is a method for "portable electronic device with a wraparound display."

iPhone patentPatent filings being the way they are, this particular case was actually first filed back in 2011 before being granted in 2014. The original also received "multiple continuations."

In any case, the concept behind the patent remains as such-- a phone with a flexible OLED display wrapping all the way around. Construction involves a single piece of glass, with opaque sections covering possible display seams.

Not the entire display would be on at all times, since the patent also describes a system of face trackers to determine which part of the screen is required to be on at any moment. What is not described is the placement of the rear-facing camera, although the patents talks of a "removable end cap" allowing the swapping of modules featuring a different camera or wireless antenna.

Of course, this being a patent the filing might simply represent a design flight of fancy for Apple's many engineers. However, with the likes of Samsung and Lenovo considering flexible smartphone designs one might wonder if Apple would start offering own display innovations.

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