Apple Wins Patent for Flexible Sidewall Display That Can Replace Physical Buttons

Just when we thought Apple had revealed everything they built recently, an interesting piece of news surfaced that brought the tech giant back into the limelight. A patent has been granted to Apple Inc. by the USPTO that speaks of a device with a flexible sideway display.

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a series of granted patents to Apple that highlights a flexible sidewall display equipped with a mobile device.  The patents were originally filed back in 2013. This flexible side display could replace physical buttons with virtual buttons in future devices.

The patent says that the new flexible display may include one or more flexible layers, which may be mounted under a transparent screen cover of clear glass or plastic. There would be a touch-sensitive layer at the bottom of the flexible display for users to provide input, and also it will give users a clue of what the buttons are or what would be its functions.

 

The patent also notes that the flexible surface will be flat and can be placed anywhere on the front, rear, or sidewall surfaces. It is also said that the tech can replace the physical buttons or may act as a dummy structure. The functions of the virtual buttons will not be fixed, and their operations may be altered based on user input.