There have been a number of rumours surrounding a foldable iPhone of late, and in fact, there have been a couple of suggestions of a foldable iPad too with a screen that extends to 18.8-inches, making it a couple of inches larger than the biggest MacBook.
Despite Apple having not entered the foldable market as yet though, it’s possible that it won’t just be a foldable iPhone or iPad on the cards when it does. A recent patent, spotted by Apple Insider, has indicated that a foldable Apple Watch could be a possibility at some point in the future. We know, we know, sounds very farfetched, doesn’t it?
The patent is for a “Wearable Electronic Device”, and it talks about this device including a display that can be folded or extended. The “wearable electronic device, such as a smartwatch, can include a display with an extendable screen size,” the patent application suggests, before adding “in particular, the display can be folded to be compact, and the display can be extended when increased screen size is desired”.
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It also talks about various use cases you might want a foldable Apple Watch for, or a foldable wearable electronic device we should say. The patent reads: “A user may want the display to be extended when using certain applications, making phone/ video calls, playing games, browsing the web, etc.”
It appreciates that an Apple Watch folding out into an iPhone-like device won’t work for everyday activities however, adding: “On the other hand, the user may want the display to be folded for convenience and portability, such as when the user is going about their day-to-day activities, outdoor activities, etc.”
When the Apple Watch first launched it was reliant on the iPhone, and that’s still true to some extent, though you can now get models with cellular connection, and the Apple Watch has its own App Store too.
If this patent ever resulted in an actual device however, the folding Apple Watch would surely be independent of the iPhone given it would seemingly have its own camera and smarts to allow you to do most of what you would do on your iPhone on your wrist.
It’s worth pointing out that Apple – and others – file hundreds of patents every year and not all result in an actual product so we may never see a folding Apple Watch. It’s interesting that it’s a consideration though.