Apple might create a foldable that won't crease like Android foldables

When the Samsung Galaxy Fold launched, it was plagued with all sorts of issues related to its delicate foldable display. One of those issues is crease lines appearing on the area covering the hinge. A future Apple foldable, though, might be able to avoid this problem (via MacRumors).

According to a new patent filed by Apple, the company has designed a hinge for a foldable device that would prevent or possibly even eliminate the creasing problem seen on Android foldables. The hinge uses movable flaps to prevent the screen from creasing at all by keeping it in a curved state.

A picture is worth a thousand words, so check out the patent below with a mockup image of an Apple foldable:

Here are some more images showing how the Apple foldable display would stay in a curved state rather than actually creasing. Of course, the images make it seem like the device wouldn’t fully close either. Maybe Apple would figure out a solution for that:

Now, we should be clear and say that a patent in no way means that an actual product is on the way. Although it is very likely an Apple foldable will, eventually, appear, it might not use this patented hinge at all. It could be that Apple just thought this was a good idea and wanted to make sure no one else grabbed it.

The patent does prove, however, that Apple is at least working on foldable technology. Traditionally, the company takes a “wait and see” approach in which it lets other companies take big risks on innovative tech and then refines that tech once it knows there’s a market. As such, even if an Apple foldable is on the way, it’s almost certainly not coming this year.