
Apple has been granted a US patent for a bendable device with flexible display, flexible housing and one or more flexible internal components.
The patent comes after the company received complaints from customers regarding the bending of their iPhone 6 under certain conditions.
Now the company might just introduce a phone as big as the iPhone 6 Plus that can be folded up.
According to The Telegraph, the filing was originally made back in 2011 and might not signal a future Apple product, as companies file patents to stop rivals from getting licenses to new technology.
The patent says: "Flexible displays may include flexible display layers, flexible touch-sensitive layers, and flexible display cover layers. The flexible housing may be a multi-stable flexible housing having one or more stable positions."
"The flexible housing may include a configurable support structure that, when engaged, provides a rigid support structure for the flexible housing."
In 2013, Apple was reportedly granted a similar patent for flexible display.
However, flexible displays are not a new concept – LG introduced LG G Flex2, a curved smartphone with a cover made from a type of ‘self-healing’ plastic that could replicate the shape of a human face.
ZD Net speculates that Apple could create a device that can be folded for storage, or it could lead to the creation of a new user interface which could let users instruct the phone to switch on or off by twisting the device.