Apple’s latest patent suggests iPhone will feature Touch Bar-like edge panel

Apple may launch a future iPhone model with a dedicated touch panel on one edge, according to details of the company’s latest patent granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). While other companies have previously launched smartphones with displays that curved towards the edges in an uninterrupted manner, the iPhone maker’s patent suggests the company could launch a small standalone display with virtual buttons, similar to Touch Bar technology was briefly included in its MacBook Pro series.

The patent was granted to Apple on March 12 and is titled “Electronic device with sidewall display.” It describes smartphones with “flexible displays” that can bend to “form a front display and an edge display” while visually separating the two via masks or enabling and disabling relevant pixels on the screen . The document, posted on the USPTO website, also contains diagrams showing devices purportedly equipped with edge panels.

Apple’s latest patent describes the use of a secondary display panel
Photo credit: USPTO/Apple

first picture in Patent documents Imagine an iPhone-like device with a slim display on the left edge, below two physical buttons. Figure 8 shows a secondary screen used to display the media currently playing on the smartphone, while Figures 18, 19, and 20 show how the song title and artist name are displayed on the edge panel, along with content that appears to support vertical scrolling.

In addition to showing music and media playback information and controls, the secondary display can also be used to show contextual controls when using specific apps. Figure 16 includes virtual buttons for flash control, switching between photo and video models, and the shutter button – these may appear when the camera application is open. Meanwhile, Figure 15 shows the application icons for the Messages, Calendar, and Camera applications, indicating that these applications are available as quick launch options.

The patent also suggests adding tactile feedback, as well as a transparent button with a lens that could be used to navigate the user interface while using the phone. Meanwhile, Figure 14 shows the use of virtual sidewall buttons to form virtual controllers when using the device in landscape mode.

Apple has obtained a patent that would allow the use of these sidewall displays similar to its Touch Bar technology, but that doesn’t guarantee these panels will make it to iPhones in the coming years. The company has patented several technologies that have yet to be used in its smartphones, and it remains to be seen whether future iPhone models will feature these displays.