Apple's foldable iPhone may protect itself from drops

Tech giant Apple is reportedly working on a new technology that will enable iPhones and iPads with flexible screens to sense drops and automatically fold up on the way to the ground to minimise damage.

The information came from the tech giant`s new patent application named `Self-Retracting Display Device And Techniques For Protecting Screen Using Drop Detection`, reports AppleInsider.

According to the tech giant, the display itself can decide to break away, regardless of how the device folds at the hinge or whether a screen can be removed from a base chassis.

The display can detach or fold in a way that protects the screen in place of a possibly fragile hinge.

"Mobile devices with foldable and rollable displays can use a sensor to detect vertical acceleration (e.g., acceleration with respect to the ground) to determine if the mobile device has been dropped," the patent application said.

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"If the sensor detects that the mobile device has been dropped... the foldable device can retract at least partially to afford protection from the fragile display from striking the ground," it added.

This means that there are then two options -- retracting the screen or releasing it.

"(For example, the process) can include activating a release mechanism for a hinged connection between a first display and a second display of the electronic device when the vertical acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold," Apple said in the application, "wherein the activating reduces an angle between the first display and the second display below a threshold angle."