Although patents usually give us the most interesting information about Apple’s plans in the medium and long term, they also give us the most unexpected surprises. Surprises such as that of the patent at hand, that of an iPhone made entirely of glass with a screen that covers its entire surface.
The iPhone of the future or the idea behind the conception of the first iPhone
The idea of the iPhone as a device that is reduced to a simple sheet of glass haunts the collective imagination since shortly after the launch of the original iPhone. A device with a screen on its entire surface, with indicators on the sides, with touch buttons and without ports that seems to be also in Apple’s plans, at least according to a new patent.
Initially discovered by Patently Apple and entitled “Electronic device with glass enclosure”, this patent explores the manufacture of a device, by the images we speak of an iPhone, with a glass finish on its six sides. These six sides would have, inside, with six flexible screens that could accommodate the curvature of the glass and that they could also act as tactile regions.
The different pieces of glass would be positioned so that they would form a continuous surface, with some openings to accommodate the microphone and speakers. In certain areas the glass could even have a different texture, so that with only by touch we could tell that this is a touch surface. A resource that can quickly remind us of the volume buttons, for example.
Depending on the orientation in which we use the phone, the software will take care of displaying the information dynamically. This would allow you to see information in the corners, information that would also be interactive and that would clear the main screen of the need to display it. We can think, for example, that Wi-Fi, battery and connectivity indicators will be located in one corner of the iPhone, so we would have more space for the content on the screen.
Finally, Apple investigates how to access the interior of such a device. Necessary both for its manufacture and for the maintenance or repairs necessary during its useful life, Apple raises a kind of windows on the sides. It also contemplates the possibility of removing the entire lower part, something quite in line with the system we saw on the original iPhone, and that would allow easy access to the circuitry and components of this spectacular phone.
The patent ends with some illustrations of an Apple Watch, a cylindrical Mac Pro and a tower Mac Pro also finished entirely in glass, a material increasingly present in Apple devices and quite versatile in many circumstances. The same Apple Watch Series 7 comes to mind, blending its huge screen with the body of the watch to practically form a unit.
It is clear that, as the saying goes, from the patent to the commercial product there is a long way. But it is most interesting to see that Apple raises such an interesting product as this.