
Apple's patented what would be the iPhone Flip's key part — its hinge, according to findings from Patently Apple.
Filed with the USPTO in October 2023 and published in May 2024, the plainly-named "hinges for folding devices" patent contains, as you might imagine, various demonstrations of how a phone could implement a hinge to allow it to bend in half. Its claims and illustrations show an iPhone-shaped device folding vertically like a Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 or other small foldable, with a hinge mechanism and flexible screen.