Apple Foldable Displays: New Patent Unveiled for 2026

Earlier this year, there was a huge discussion about Apple’s upcoming foldable displays. Adding fuel to that, there is a new patent for iPhone foldable displays. But the debut will not happen until mid-2026. According to industry analysts, if Apple makes the launch, the market around foldable displays will increase by 30%.

apple foldable displays 2026

As per the new patent when a new folding iPad, iPhone, or MacBook will launch its fold hinge will be smoother and simpler. Also, as per the reports, Apple is finally favoring making a design with a gearing mesh that interlocks.

When Apple’s previous design was released it showed three or four small cogs around a large and single one. Their new patent title is “Hings for Folding Display Devices”. This design has four pairs of small cogs. Together, they will make a complex assembly of six static parts.

As Apple states, “Housing sections of a foldable display device may be hinged together.” And also they said, “The hinge might consist of a number of interconnected links, which could be made from interdigitated friction clutch fingers.” With all of the cogs and gears, Apple describes pins. They help to make travel all components along with the set of directions.

According to the patent, “there will be crescent-shaped slots which receive pins and with them, fingers or portions of links will provide.”

In a separate sketch, we can see four directly interlocking cogs row. And other looks describe different rigid elements with gears. Apple said, “Additionally, connections can be made from link members with curved mating bearing surfaces that slide in relation to one another as neighboring links rotate in relation to one another.” “And with a set of gears, a housing rotation synchronization mechanism will be formed. It extends between the first and the second housing portions.”

With all of these new things, we can guess that Apple is moving away from the large hinge mechanism to a much smaller gear system. It means that Apple’s newly generated patent is more complex than the previous one. Also, there are some chances that Apple make more than one design of hinges. When we consider the previous Apple patent and the application, they mainly focus only on iPhones or iPads. But with the new one, they are going to make a huge range of devices.

It says “The device they try to innovate may be a computer, tablet, phone, wristwatch or any other wearable device. Also, it may be a television, a monitor or a stand-alone computer, a computer display”, maybe “A system embedded to a vehicle, or any other device, or equipment.”

But we have to consider when it comes to patents they are always written in a way that shows a wide range of possible devices and technologies. Apple didn’t say they were going to stop the previous one. Maybe they try to take the two designs together on the table.

In the patent, we can see 10 inventors who got credits for this. Bradley J Hamel, the one who worked on another patent about friction hinges is one of these inventors. Regarding a hinge mechanism, Kevin M. Robinson is also listed on the patent. It will probably be for the MacBook Pro.

For a long time, Apple has tried to put foldable iPhones on the market. But now they are also trying to make their iPads and MacBook Pros foldable.