Foldable iPhone | New Patent Reveals Apple’s Working on Flex Battery Tech

There have been countless rumors that say Apple’s working on a foldable iPhone, albeit it’s still in its early stages. Because of these rumors, many questions arose regarding how this foldable iPhone would operate, what it would look like, and how the battery would work.

Would Apple take a page from Samsung’s book and use a dual battery? Or would it use something entirely different?

Well, thanks to a newly disclosed patent application, we now know what Apple might be thinking.

Apple May Be Working on ‘Flexible Battery Configurations’

The new patent application explains how Apple would implement these “electronic device configurations providing flexible movement of aspects of the device.”

Apple says this new flexible battery configuration may include a device that consists of a first and second part that a hinge section would attach to.

All of these parts may have their own thickness.

This is all a technical way of describing a foldable device with a hinge in the middle, similar to what Samsung’s done with the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold.

The patent application also provides a few images showcasing what this battery would look like.

According to the image, the battery would have a thinner section in the middle that would fit inside the hinge, and it would allow it to bend with the device.

Apple also mentions how this type of technology would be beneficial and how it can be used with connected devices.

Moreover, Apple also noted that this type of technology might give electronic devices “mechanical flexibility.” However, this is only one of the options Apple mentioned in the document. The company also explains how the device might have two batteries, one on each half of the device.

The electronic devices may include a battery including a first battery section housed in the first device section. The battery may include a second battery section housed in the second device section.

US Patent & Trademark Office

Is Apple Getting Ready for a Foldable iPhone?

Although this patent application looks promising, Apple still has a long way to go to make a foldable iPhone a reality. Some analysts expected Apple to release the foldable iPhone as early as 2022, but leaker Jon Prosser says that we might have to wait longer than that. Still, the fact that Apple’s started to work on patents means something is in the works. Again, I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.

Currently, Samsung’s the most popular manufacturer of foldable phones. Its most recent foldable phones are the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip3 and the Samsung Galaxy Fold3, and both have proven to be more popular than expected. The former has dual batteries at a total of 3,300 mAh, while the latter offers a more generous 4,400 mAh dual battery setup also spanning both halves.