Apple Wants To Put A Window On iPhones

Apple works behind the scenes to remove the notch from iPhones and maximize the area occupied by the display: a patent shows one of the possible solutions.

When it debuted in 2017 on the iPhone X, the notch on display, otherwise known as the notch, negatively impressed many technology enthusiasts, even those who followed Apple closely. Bulky, invasive, unaesthetic, the notch convinced only those who, with pragmatism, managed to put utility before aesthetics.

Inside the notch, Apple has placed a series of cameras and sensors of the highest-profile to make it possible to safely unlock with the face, the Face ID, putting aside what until then had been the unlocking system of the iPhone, the Touch ID in the Home button that the company has removed to increase the portion of the front surface occupied by the display.

Apple continued to use the notch for the Face ID even on the iPhones of the following years, so the notch from a hated element has become iconic. But now, years later, the market has changed, and the competition has long been experimenting with methods to maximize the screen-to-surface ratio, so Apple works behind the scenes to hide the notch. Without giving up Face ID.

No Face ID Under The Screen, Apple Thinks Of Other Things.

In Cupertino, they recently approved a patent that aims to hide the components necessary for the Face ID, currently contained in the notch. From this patent, it is evident that Apple does not believe in the hypothesis of arranging all the components under the display, as happens for the selfie cameras of the Android competition ( for example, that of Xiaomi Mi Mix 4, ready to debut ).

It would not be possible, at least not in the current state of technology, as companies already find it quite challenging to place a single camera under the screen; Apple’s numerous sensors would be impossible to operate with a display in the middle. So we need another, more ingenious solution.

Which Apple, judging by the patent, seems to have identified. From the document approved by the US patent office, we learn how Apple’s method for the iPhones of tomorrow consists of a mobile display that can move to show and hide the system of cameras and sensors necessary for the operation of Face ID. A sort of window that is opened and closed as needed.

What The Patent For The Window On iPhones Says

The patent is titled “Electronic Devices with Adjustable Display Windows.”

Here is a passage of the explanation included by Apple in the document approved by the patent office: “The display can have a window. During operation, a component such as optical can operate through the window, which can overlap a movable portion of the display. […] When the window is closed, the movable portion of the display overlaps the area.

In the opposite scenario, the movable portion of the display is moved away by opening the window to let the light pass through the optical component, which can be a camera or any other element that must interact by receiving or emitting light “, with a clear reference to the True Depth sensors that make up the Face ID.

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