Forget folding phones – Apple wants to put a foldable smartwatch on your wrist

Folding phones are a thing now – from the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 to Motorola’s nostalgia-fuelled Razr revival, it’s clear flexible screens have found their place in our pockets.

But an Apple patent suggests the tech giant sees foldables not just as pocketable, but wearable. Specifically, Apple appears to be exploring a foldable Apple Watch – and not in the clunky, sci-fi way you might expect.

According to a patent application (made back in 2023!) published recently by the US Patent and Trademark Office and spotted by Dezeen, Apple has detailed a smartwatch with a folding phone-esque display that could fold in on itself.

The screen could span from one end of the watch band to the other, meaning it could potentially double the screen real estate without doubling the wrist presence.

The patent describes a “wearable electronic device comprising a flexible display panel and a support structure that defines a curved shape,” hinting at a form factor that hugs the wrist when worn and folds when removed or not in use.

In theory, this would allow for a much larger display area – useful for everything from reading messages and emails to doomscrolling social media without reaching for your phone.

Of course, as with all patents, this doesn’t confirm a foldable Apple smartwatch is on the way – but it does show Apple is seriously considering how to redefine what a smartwatch looks and feels like.

Come to think of it, and seeing how underwhelming the Apple Watch Series 10 felt to users, the Apple Watch Series F (not its official name, mind) might just be the wearable that finally shakes up the somewhat dormant smart wearable market.

It also reinforces the company’s long-running interest in expanding the capabilities of its wearables without making them bulkier. A flexible, edge-to-edge display could be a neat way to balance that.

While the likes of Samsung and Huawei have already dabbled in foldable and rollable display concepts for wearables, Apple has yet to enter the foldables market at all. This patent could be the first step toward changing that.

We’re still likely years away from strapping a foldable Apple Watch to our wrists, but if anyone can make folding screens sleek, wearable and genuinely useful, it’s Apple.