- Apple has patented a radical Apple Watch redesign
- It reveals a unique new foldable design with two inner displays and one outer display
- It also features 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 dual-screen display and a camera.
The patent, innocuously dubbed ‘wearable electronic device’, was filed for by Apple back in September 2023 and published today, March 20.
First spotted by PatentlyApple, the filing reveals a wearable device “including a fixed portion and a movable portion” with a display assembly, and an optical sensor, presumably for registering when the display is opened and closed.
The patent text notes that even the best smartwatches available today “are limited in terms of screen size and functionality relative to their smartphone counterparts,” and are as such preferred for many device interactions.
Apple highlights a “constant need for improved functionality of wearable electronic devices,” hence its ground-breaking proposed redesign.
Is this the Apple Watch of the future?
The customary dense patent language is complemented by images that clearly reveal Apple’s vision for a smartwatch of the future.
It references a device that contains both an outer display and an inner display, the latter being two displays hidden inside a folding mechanism akin to any foldable smartphone you might be familiar with.
One such iteration of the patent includes a “continuous” display, one unit joined by a folding mechanism, rather than two separate displays that fold out from each other.
There’s also a reference to a movable, rotating portion that can move around an axis, as shown in the image above.
Another part of the patent references an outward and inward-facing camera pairing that could be used for taking pictures and answering FaceTime calls.
As you can imagine, this outlandish overhaul of the Apple Watch is nowhere near release, so don’t expect to see a folding Apple Watch Ultra 3 with two cameras.
However, Apple has at least explored the idea of overhauling the design of the Apple Watch. By nature its form factor is small and limited in scope, so a folding display mechanism could be a novel solution to solving that problem.
Another recently revealed patent shows Apple is considering blood pressure monitoring tech powered by a liquid-filled sensor in the Apple Watch strap.
Of course, this is merely an idea committed to paper at this point, and may never see the light of day, but it’s certainly an enticing look behind the scenes at how Apple considers designs for future tech, especially its wearables.
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stephen.warwick@futurenet.com (Stephen Warwick)
