Apple granted patent for foldable iPhone using hi-tech carbon nanotubes

AS Apple approaches the 10th anniversary of the iPhone, it is working on what would be the most radical design change yet: a foldable phone.

APPLE today has been granted a patent for a hi-tech fordable iPhone that is made from ceramic, the material used in the new model Apple Watch recently unveiled.

Patently Apple uncovered the new patent that Apple applied for three years ago but kept hidden from discovery by lodging the application under the name of the individual designers rather than the usual habit of lodging the patent application under the Apple name.

Sketches in the patent application show a iPhone with a fold down the middle of the screen, with carbon nanotubes giving strength to the structure.

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In the patent application, Apple says the housing for the phone could be aluminium, glass, ceramic or even plastic for the bendable screen.

Apple is granted about 2000 patents a year, and just because it patents something it does not mean that it will result in a product.

But chief design officer Jony Ive gave an insight into the time involved in going from an idea to implementation last week in an interview about the new MacBook Pro Touch Bar, saying the design of the Touch Bar came after two years of trying a range of designs.

Apple is expected to majorly revamp the iPhone design next year although if it does develop a fordable iPhone that is likely to be something several years down the track.