Folding iPhone? Apple reportedly files patent to support foldable displays

This November Samsung unveiled its unnamed foldable smartphone, currently known as the Galaxy F, at its developer conference.Oppo has also reportedly promised that it will unveil its foldable smartphone at the Mobile World Congress in 2019.Adding itself to the list of foldable smartphones that we should expect in the coming year, is Apple.According to a report by the publication Patently Apple, a patent application from the company reveals that it is also looking at the possibility to enter the foldable smartphones market. The patent was apparently filed earlier this year in March and is now publicly available. It was posted by the US Patent and Trademark Office.[caption id="attachment_5804271" align="alignnone" width="1280"]

Apple Invents Specialized Display Coatings Designed to Support Future Foldable iDevices. Image: Patently Apple[/caption]The image reveals that Apple's foldable phone concept can fold both inwards and outwards, also known as fold-in or fold-out displays. If this is true, then if compared to Samsung's Galaxy F which folds only inwards, the Apple device sounds interesting.There is no word on when the device will be launched. Samsung's foldable smartphone, on the other hand, is expected to be launched in March 2019. Reports suggest that the device will be priced in the range of $1,900 to $2,500, which is about Rs 1,35,000 to Rs 1,76,000, which is quite steep. The company is aiming to ship Bixby 3.0 with the device.