Remember the Xiaomi Mi MIX Alpha concept phone with a wrap-around display that extends all the way to the back of the smartphone? Well, it seems like Apple is planning something similar if a patent titled ‘Electronic Device with Glass Enclosure’ is to go by. The patent describes an all-glass iPhone which perhaps could be a better alternative to foldable phones.
The Sides of the All-Glass iPhone Will Display Information and one Touch Access to Apps
Apple has envisioned a phone with glasses on all the six sides, out of which one of the portions will act as the primary display and will presumably be used as the main point of contact. All in all, the handset is expected to feature a seamless design, so that it will look like a single sheet of glass, even though it will be made of different pieces combined together. Such an iPhone will likely be bereft of physical buttons, and instead, the side and back displays will be touch and/or force sensitive.
This will allow the rear and the sides of the phone to act as additional input devices. Apple could believe that an all-glass iPhone will also enable functions that the current form factor cannot support. For instance, it could be that the sides and back will be transparent, allowing the phone to include additional screens that are viewable through the back and/or the sides. It will also be possible to extend the content being displayed to the other sides of the device.
Moreover, the user interface will also wrap around the device, allowing users to do various things such as swiping icons across various sides. Apple is basically envisioning a device with a functionally and visually unified screen that spans multiple sides. While it can be interesting to have apps spill across the entire device and touch controls for volume, we aren’t so sure about groundbreaking experiences that such a phone will offer.
At the end of the day, this is just a patent, so Apple will not necessarily act on it. Hopefully, when technological development reaches a new plateau, we might get to see an all-glass iPhone in the future.
News Source: U.S. Patent And Trademark Office
