Apple has just filed a patent for a future Apple Watch design, which features a unique wraparound flexible display. So could Apple's next-gen smartwatch really be all-screen?
According to MacRumors, the Cupertino-based tech giant filed the patent titled “Display Module and System Applications,” at the United States Patent and Trademark Office just recently. The filing outlines a radically redesigned Apple Watch whose screen would span the entire length of the band of its smartwatch.
"The display area of the smartwatch is not limited to a rigid watch face area," the patent filing explains. "In an embodiment, a smartwatch includes a flexible display panel that is integrated into a flexible watch band. Accordingly, the curvature of the flexible display panel in both the watch face area and the band may be adjusted to conform to the wrist size of the user.”
The designs depict a device that utilizes a flexible OLED display that through a plurality of interconnects can contour and wrap around a user’s wrist like any other wearable device. With this new design, Apple also plants to minimize the watch’s bezel down to 4-5mm, with the possibility of almost entirely eliminating it depending on “aesthetic concerns.”
You can check out the preliminary designs below to get an idea of what this next-gen Apple Watch might look like.
For those of you already banking on being the proud owners of this revolutionary Apple Watch, you might need to hold your horses. As with most Apple patents, it's unclear whether this design will work as a reference for upcoming devices or whether these plans will even ever make it into a consumer device.
