Apple is working on a self-healing screen that could make its first foldable iPhone the toughest on the market.
As spotted by Patently Apple, the tech giant has just been granted a patent for a foldable display with a cover layer that can at least partially repair scratches and dents.
The patent states that this self-healing layer may be used across the entire display, or else just the flexible portion of the screen (as in the hinge).
Apple is understandably light on detail when it comes to the precise nature of this self-healing layer – current foldable displays are notoriously vulnerable, so this would be quite the breakthrough. However, it is stated that heat, light, or an electrical current might be applied to kick the process off.
In such an application, “transparent conductors” would form a heating layer in the display cover layer. This might kick in when a user charges their phone, it’s suggested.
While the crude illustration used in the patent suggests a foldable iPhone of some kind, Apple asserts that it could be applied to a MacBook or an iPad too. This would appear to tie in with previous rumours that Apple is working on a 20-inch foldable MacBook, as well as a foldable iPhone.
Needless to say, with this being nothing more than a patent, no one should be holding their breath for any sort of actual practical implementation. Apple issues patent applications all the time, and most of these never amount to anything concrete.
Still, if the company could implement such a self-healing screen, it’d address one of the biggest criticisms we have of current foldable devices. Now, about that dust resistance…
