- Apple has patented a radical Apple Watch -Redesign
- It reveals a unique new foldable design with two inner screens and an outer screen
- It also has a camera and even rotating and sliding elements
A new patent has revealed that Apple is considering a radical redesign of the Apple Watch that would deliver a foldable double screen and a camera.
The patent, innocently called ‘portable electronic unit’, was filed by Apple back in September 2023 and published today, March 20.
First stained by Patentally Apple, the filing reveals a portable device “including a fixed part and a moving part” with a display device and an optical sensor, presumably for registration when the screen is opened and closed.
The patent text notes that even the best smartwatches available today “are limited in terms of screen size and functionality compared to their smartphone colleagues,” and as such are preferred for many device interactions.
Apple highlights a “constant need for improved functionality of portable electronic devices”, and thus its groundbreaking proposed redesign.
Is this the Apple Watch of the future?
The usual close patent language is complemented by images that clearly reveal Apple’s vision for a smart watch in the future.
It refers to a device that contains both an outer screen and an inner screen where the latter are two screens hidden inside a folding mechanism similar to any foldable smartphone you may be familiar with.
Such a iteration of the patent includes a “continuous” screen, a device along with a folding mechanism rather than two separate screens that fold from each other.
There is also a reference to a moving, rotating part that can move around in an axis, as shown in the picture above.
Another part of the patent refers to an outer and Wrapping cameras that could be used to take pictures and answer FaceTime calls.
As you can imagine, this Outlandish Revision of Apple Watch is not near release, so don’t expect to see a folded Apple Watch Ultra 3 with two cameras.
However, Apple has at least explored the idea of reviewing the design of the Apple Watch. By nature, its form factor is small and limited in scope, so a folded display mechanism can be a new solution to solve this problem.
Another recently revealed patent shows that Apple is considering blood pressure monitoring technically driven by a fluid-filled sensor in the Apple Watch strap.
Of course, this is just an idea that is committed to paper at this time and may never see the light of day, but it is definitely an enticing look behind the scenes of how Apple considers design for future tech, especially its wearables.
