The Future iPhone Could Look Totally Different — Here's Proof

Impact

Rectangle, rectangle, bigger rectangle, slightly thinner rectangle, rinse repeat — a cursory overview of the iPhone cycle displays the increasingly homogenous aesthetic from one phone to the next. The iPhone 7 is rumored to undergo only a "modest upgrade" and the public is generally underwhelmed — but a bunch of newly granted patents for Apple reveal that the company might try and wow us. 

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office published a series of 80 patents for the company on Tuesday, Patently Apple reported, pointing to a future iPhone with a flexible, all-glass display

One patent indicates that a next-gen iPhone could have a curved, flexible display with "virtual buttons, switches and/or scrolling displays" along the side of the device. They also provide further evidence that a future iPhone would come equipped with this flashy curvaceous bod by specifying that it is a "cellular telephone," as Patently Apple pointed out. 

It's unlikely Apple will release such a device next month. As we previously noted, they're likely saving up their surprises for the 10-year anniversary iPhone. (The iPhone 8? iPhone X? iPhone Will This Cycle Ever End?)