January 08, 2015
Apple had quite some problems with the fragility of its iPhones. Some models bend very easy and because of this many customers aren’t pleased with the product, despite the fact that the American company sold a lot of devices in the end of 2014 when the new generation was launched. Now, Apple comes with a patent that leads to the idea that they will make devices from other materials which means that they will be very flexible, almost like a wallet. This type of composition was already experienced by LG with its two generation of Flex smartphone.
Also flexible battery
Patent No. 8,929,085 might be a key to solving many of iPhones’ problems starting this year. For this, it looks like the company takes in consideration to build iPhones from other material than the actual mild aluminum, such are soft plastics, thin glass, fiber composites, thin metal and even fabric and silicone, which can flex repeatedly without being damaged. Even for the battery fabrication Apple is taking in consideration to use more potential flexible materials, which can be lithium-ion or lithium polymer technologies, a flexible circuit board and stable internal components that can resist damage done by flexing.
Official position
About the intentions and the future usage of the patent the officials of Apple gave some statements: "Flexible electronic devices may be more resistant to damage during impact events such as drops because the flexible device may bend or deform while absorbing the impact. Deformation of this type may increase the duration of an impact thereby reducing the impulse received by other components of the flexible device. User interface components may be configured to detect deformations of all or part of the electronic device. Deformations detected by user interface components may be interpreted by processing software associated with the device as user inputs to the device".