Apple has patented edgeless screen for next-generation iPhone with heads-up windows

Apple was granted a patent detailing technology that allows for ear speakers, camera and even a heads-up display to hide behind an edge-to-edge screen, a design rumored to debut in a next-generation iPhone later this year.

Apple has just patented a method by which various components can be mounted behind perforations (or invisible tiny holes) in a device screen. This arrangement would allow engineers to design a smartphone or tablet with a true edge-to-edge display, Appleinsider reports.

Apple in its patent suggests mounting sensors and other components like camera, earpiece and home button behind a series of openings, or through-holes, in the active portion of an OLED or similar panel. These openings might be left empty or, if desired, filled with glass, polymers, radio-transparent ceramic or other suitable material.

According to the document, these tiny holes will put between pixels, suggesting a self-illuminating display technology like OLED is preferred over traditional LCD structures that require backlight and filter layers.

Interestingly, Apple notes the patented technology might power a built-in heads-up display system. In some embodiments, windows are created by providing one or more transparent regions in the front and rear of the device. When a user looks through these windows, formed from a glass panel on the rear and the main transparent OLED display, they would see digital images overlaid atop real-world objects.

If implemented into a future iPhone, the window-based HUD could be Apple’s first foray into augmented reality.

It should be recalled that Apple has recently removed “Finder for AirPods” app from the App Store.