We know that Apple and several other Android OEMs have been working non-stop to kill the notch. Some Android devices have already started to adopt under-display cameras, which would give us an all-screen real state without a notch, a punch-hole cutout, or anything of that sort.

However, things aren’t as simple for Apple, as its TrueDepth technology uses more sensors, hence more space on your iPhone’s display. However, that doesn’t mean that Cupertino has given up, and the latest information reveals that the company is looking for every possible solution, which may even include the possibility of hiding the notch, in case it cant get rid of it altogether.

It seems that Apple has been looking for ways to hide the notch of your iPhone by expanding the device’s display when you’re not using its facial recognition features. This idea was spotted by the guys over at Patently Apple, where it appears as a patent filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office under the name of “Electronic devices with adjustable display windows”

“An electronic device may have a display with an array of pixels for displaying images. The display may have a window region. During operation, a component such as an optical component may operate through the window region. The window region may overlap a movable portion of the display. The window region may be operated in open and closed states. In the closed state, the movable portion of the display overlaps the window region and pixels in the movable display portion emit light through the window region. In the open state, the movable portion of the display is moved away from the window region so that light for the optical component may pass through the window region. The optical component may be a camera or other component that receives light through the window region or may be an optical component that emits light through the window region.”

The patent mentions the possibility of creating a “window region” in the display, where every component necessary for Face ID can work when necessary. However, this window region would be covered by the display to hide the sensors when not in use.

Apple also explains that this display window may have a coating to help it reflect light when the movable display portion is closed, and it could also use a mirror to hide the components, just like folded cameras found in some Android devices. Still, there’s no guarantee that this patent will ever be featured in a future iPhone device, but it’s nice to see that Apple may get rid of the notch on its iPhone devices in the future.

Source Patently Apple

Via MacRumors