Apart from the circulating rumors that Apple might use a force touch display in the next iPhone generation, fueled by the announcement of the new MacBook’s touchpad, there seem to be a few new speculations regarding new technologies coming in the iPhone 6/6 Plus successor(s).
If we judge by one of the new patents that Apple has been granted by the USPTO (originally filed back in 2013), the company could be working on a mobile device equipped with flexible sidewall displays, which means that they might probably act like dynamic hardware buttons that can change their function in accordance to what you’re doing on your phone.
The patent descriptions claims that these just-patented displays might “include one or more flexible layers and may be mounted under a transparent display cover layer such as a layer of clear glass or plastic”. Below that clear layer, Apple intends to put a touch-sensitive layer that will register user input, whereas the display itself will provide the user with visual clue on what’s the button’s current function, be it a camera shutter or an in-game controller.It’s also said that the patented display tech might take a planar shape, which will allow it to cover the “front, rear, and sidewall surfaces for the device”. It is hinted that this tech might eventually entirely substitute hardware buttons.
We’ve previously heard that Microsoft might have intended to use a somewhat similar tech in the phone that never was, the mysterious Mclaren, while Samsung is differentiate itself with the Galaxy Note Edge and S6 edge.
Source: phonearena.com
