Apple’s Newly Patented Wraparound Screen May Be the First iPhone 8 Rumor
We don’t even have the iPhone 7 yet, but rumors have started swilling about what could be next for Apple. Rumor has it that the company is planning something BIG for the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, and we may have gotten a look at the 2017 mega-gadget today, thanks to the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Today, the United States Patent and Trademarks Office approved a patent that Apple first submitted back in 2011. The patent is for a device that “includes at least a transparent housing and a flexible display assembly enclosed within the transparent housing.” Broken down, this patented idea is an iPhone that’s all wraparound screen, save a few parts. The transparency of the phone would add new possibilities to Augmented Reality (AR) technology.
Imagine holding your glass phone over any object and seeing information about it pop up, while you can still look straight through your transparent phone at the actual object. Other innovations in this idea include a screen composed of several different touch-sensitive layers, a complete lack of the home button and a screen that would allow 360-degree images to be displayed in actual 360 degrees.
Apple files many patents and very few of them ever make it to reality, but we can’t help thinking how much we want this theoretical device in our hands. Despite some obvious drawbacks (instead of butt dialing, you may be back-of-the-hand dialing), we’re always excited about any new idea that pushes the tech industry — and our imaginations — forward.
Would you buy a phone that’s all screen? Let us know @BritandCo!
(h/t 9 to 5 Mac, photos via USPTO + Getty)