Future iPhones, including the foldable model that Apple will be working on, could have a new feature that could mark a before and after in the smartphone industry. The Cupertino-based company has published a new patent detailing a system that would allow interaction with different parts of the device’s chassis to perform some functions that until now we could only perform using the touch screen.
The patent specifically describes main disadvantages of touch screens. One of them is the fact that the user’s hand can block the images displayed on the screen when interacting with it. Apple also states that “displays are sometimes not visible from certain directions and may be smaller than desired.” He also highlights that while the solution to implement “physical buttons and other input devices” can be useful for “collecting input from the user” and thus preventing screen touches, it is less convincing and intuitive.
So the solution is to create a touch sensor on the body of the device that allows you to perform some actions and thus avoid interacting with the panel or with the physical buttons like so far. One of the actions that Apple describes, which the company calls a “virtual shutter button,” involves gestures on the iPhone’s side macro to control some camera settings. This touch sensor on the case can also be useful, for example, to control the volume with gestures.
Foldable iPhone without buttons?
The curious thing about the patent, we repeat, is that Apple describes a mechanism showing the layout of a mobile phone with a flexible screen, so it wouldn’t be weird to see this touch chassis in the next foldable iPhone. Of course, we must not forget that this is a patented technology, and this does not guarantee that the company is working on it.
About the launch of the foldable iPhone, yes, is still unknown. In fact, and according to recent rumors, Apple may first release a kind of iPad with a flexible screen, whose panel, folded in half, will turn the device into a kind of Mac. Well, the bottom of the screen will become a kind of virtual keyboard.
In any case, we must not forget that the company may make significant changes to the iPhone 15 keypad. In particular, the volume and power keys will be modified with a solid state mechanism. This would make the ripple virtual in some way rather than physical. Undoubtedly, this novelty could be the beginning of a transition to an iPhone without ports and a touch body like the one described in the patent.
Source: Hiper Textual
I’m Ben Stock, a highly experienced and passionate journalist with a career in the news industry spanning more than 10 years. I specialize in writing content for websites, including researching and interviewing sources to produce engaging articles. My current role is as an author at Gadget Onus, where I mainly cover the mobile section.
