Future iPhones could come with a bendy screen

Apple is "serious" about developing iPhones with flexible screens by as early as 2018 and already has its top display suppliers working on the displays, according to reports.

The company is planning to replace the iPhone's current LED-backlit Multi-Touch display with a new organic light-omitting diode (OLED) screen - also used in the Apple Watch, a source told Business Korea.

“It is very likely that the first flexible iPhone may be introduced in 2018, as Apple's top-tier display suppliers are working on it,” the source said.

LG Display, which supplies many of the displays used in Apple products, is planning to switch one of its LCD supply lines to produce OLED panels en masse by 2017, they added.

The news comes as speculation as to what the next iPhone - believed to be called either the iPhone 6s or the iPhone 7 - gains momentum ahead of a slated September launch.

This could well prove to be a rumour with foundation - Apple has filed and been granted many patents around flexible devices and screens over the years.

One granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office in January gives the company permission to produce "a flexible electronic device" which may include "a flexible display, a flexible housing and one or more flexible internal components".

^{An image from Apple's patent demonstrating how an 'electronic device' could be flexible}

A flexible device could be more resistant than its rigid counterparts as it may bend or deform while absorbing the impact from a fall, and the motion of twisting it could be used as a command trigger for an action such as turning the device on or off, the patent explained.

^{Apple's 'flexible device' patent}

The Californian company was granted a similar patent for flexible displays in October last year, and another in February 2013. in November 2013, a source said two iPhone models were in development with curved glass screens, but given the sizing of the rumoured phones (4.7 inches and 5.5 inches respectively), it appears the source was referring to the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus in September last year, a number of customers complained their 5.5-inch 6 Plus handsets had appeared to bend after being carried in pockets. Apple said that only nine customers had complained, and that the handset should not bend when used normally.