Apple files for foldable phone patent, to work with LG for 2021 launch

Technology giant Apple Inc could be working on a foldable iPhone, a patent application filed by the company suggests.

According to report by Patently Apple, the company has filed for a patent with the United States Patent & Trade Office for its flagship smartphone with a display that can be 'opened and closed like a book'.

The report says that the design of the possible new iPhone looks like two phones stitched together. However, the patent notes state that the phone will have a single sheet of foldable display.

''An electronic device may have a flexible portion that allows the device to be folded. The device may have a flexible display. The flexible display may have a flexible display layer, a cover layer, a touch sensor interposed between the flexible display layer and the cover layer, a support layer, and a polarizer layer,'' the patent application said.

The patent is said to cover all types of displays including OLED, micro LED and LCD.

Korean news portal The Bell had reported in October that Apple had tied up with Korea's LG Display to produce foldable OLED displays and had tied up with LG Innotek to develop foldable circuit boards to work along with the foldable screens.

The report said Apple planned to invest in a LG plant for a production of a foldable display. The company has apparently invested heavily in LG Display's upcoming production unit that will be completed in 2020.  Evidently, Apple plans to launch the iPhone with a foldable OLED display around 2021.

Rival Samsung is also said to be working on a foldable display for a product rumoured to be titled 'Galaxy X'.

According to reports, LG has completed its own foldable OLED panel prototype. The company had also started production of its first OLED phones at its E5 plant in South Korea.