Technology
Apple imagines a folding iPhone with a 'self-healing' screen
An Apple patent application published yesterday unveiled an idea for a foldable smartphone that would include a "self-healing" display cover that would allow the user to fix teeth or scratches on the screen. The application, which was found by Patently Apple, was originally filed by Apple in January.
As Apple wrote in the patent application, the display of the proposed design would make it possible for the computer to fix itself without the consumer having to interfere manually. Theoretically, self-healing of the folding device may be triggered automatically, such as when the device is charged or on a fixed schedule, and heat, light, or electrical current will be used to fix the protective layer above the panel.
The patent application also notes that the screen cover of a hypothetical device may contain a layer of elastomer that may lose & regain its shape in order to protect the sensitive inner workings of the device. Theoretically, the material used for this design would make the overall display of the foldable more robust.
Several tech companies, including Samsung and Motorola, are already producing various types of folding phones, but Apple 's proposed self-curing feature will add a new twist to these devices. Samsung's first take on this sort of folding handset, the Galaxy Fold, had problems with the reliability of the display screen. The phone was delayed after several review units had crashed in a fast succession, something that my colleague Dieter Bohn had experienced in his review unit.
Basic self-healing technology has already been used in at least one smartphone, LG's G Flex since 2013. It had a self-healing rear cover that was intended to patch slight scrapes, such as a knife scratch. It wasn't that successful, though: it couldn't recover from a key scratch during our testing, with our reviewer comparing it to Wolverine if he could only heal from paper cuts and nothing else.
