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Apple has begun internal testing on prototype folding displays for iPhones, but has not yet decided whether to go ahead with that model, Bloomberg reported.
The company has been testing screen prototypes, rather than a full iPhone model, according to the report.
A foldable phone is unlikely to be included in its 2021 lineup, which is expected to focus on incremental updates to the 5G models launched last year, according to Bloomberg.
The company’s 2021 models may include fingerprint scanning Touch IDs on their displays, according to the report. That technology had been phased out in favor of facial recognition in recent models.
With a foldable iPhone model, Apple would join a growing list of competitors with similar phones. Samsung, which has several foldable models, announced its Galaxy Z Fold 2 in August 2020. LG showed off its prototype rollable phone, the LG Rollable, last week in a CES video.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2.
Samsung
Apple in recent years applied for several patents for folding smartphone designs. Last year, the company obtained a patent for folding hinges for smartphones. Those hinges would go under the screen.
Read More: Apple Is On A Cloud Hiring Wave – These Are The Key Technologies It Wants New Employees To Know
Another Apple patent, “Foldable Electronic Device with Exposed Display Region,” included illustrations of foldable phone screens. Those illustrations appeared to show an iPhone screen in roughly the same way as current iPhones, but with a horizontal hinge in the center, allowing it to fold in half. As the patent says, the “pair of side platforms is switched between a flattened state and a folded state”.
Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 measures approximately 6.2 inches when folded in half. Prototypes for Apple’s folding screen were roughly the size of the current largest iPhone model, 6.7 inches, when unfolded, according to Bloomberg.
In December, an Apple supplier in China was accused of using the forced labor of thousands of Uighur workers to make glass for iPhones. The same month, Apple released iPhone partner Wistron on probation after workers in riots caused $ 7 million worth of damage at a plant in India.
Apple is also reportedly removing the Touch Bar from its MacBook Pro this year.
An Apple spokesperson did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
