Apple Watch could radically change its design

Is Apple making a preparation? Radical change in Apple Watch design ? A new patent, published on March 23, 2021, describes what the firm’s future smartwatch might look like. Apply flexible OLED display technology. The document goes so far as to show this. drawing of a clock completely covered by a continuous screen. The middle part is a little more rounded, like the dial of a classic watch.

The document explains the concept as follows: “The display module must contain a display substrate that includes a front surface, a back surface, and a display area on the front. Numerous interconnections run across the image substrate between the front and back face. An array of LEDs forms the imaging area, itself electrically connected by a plurality of interconnects, and one or more control circuits integrated into the back surface of the imaging substrate. Examples of such a system are wearable, rollable and foldable screens”.

In the remainder of the patent, Apple talks about a new technology for flexible OLED and/or LCD displays called a “chip-on-film”. This manufacturing process involves creating OLED or LCD pixels in the form of a chip, rather than something that is repeatedly deposited in layers, as in conventional OLED displays, for example. The document explains that the components of OLED displays degrade rapidly when in contact with oxygen, and that this is the main problem with current flexible displays: air always gets between different layers of the substrate, shortening its lifespan.

For now It is really unknown whether Apple will dare such a radical design change.. After all, the firm’s designers have accustomed us to iteratively refining original designs rather than making radical changes. What do you think of this possible new design direction for the Apple Watch? Let us know what you think about it in the comments.

Source : USPTO