Apple could design a Apple Watch with a flexible display that goes around the user’s wrist and displays information on the entire surface. Cupertino engineers have already filed a patent to implement this technology.
Will the Apple Watch of the future become a display that goes around the wrist?
Apple has previously explored ways to make Apple Watch bands more functional, filing several patents. For example by changing the look of the watch depending on the strap chosen. One recently unveiled possibility, though, is that the entire Watch could turn into a display that goes around the wrist. The strap becomes the smartwatch.
“This would allow the display area of the smartwatch to be expanded beyond the rigid area of the watch face,” says the newly obtained patent called “Display Module And System Applications”.
The smartwatch will include a flexible display panel built into a band. In this way, the display area of the flexible display panel can take up more available space on the watch face and band area.
Apple also notes that such a device would imply that “both the watch face area and the band can be adjusted to fit the size of the user’s wrist.” Something not exactly easy: Apple needs 28 pages just to write the patent.
We are unlikely to see this type of technology anytime soon. But it’s interesting to know that Apple, at least, is thinking about it. We may not see this in Apple Stores in the next few years – but the fact that Apple is thinking about flexible screens gives hope that the engineers are also working on a foldable smartphone.