Microsoft's Foldable Smartphone Could Be In Development, Suggests New Patent Application

Microsoft’s foldable smartphone could feature a spine cover plate for the central hinge, as per the patent application.

Written by Akash Dutta, Edited by Siddharth Suvarna | Updated: 13 March 2024 13:12 IST

Microsoft's Foldable Smartphone Could Be In Development, Suggests New Patent Application

Photo Credit: YouTube/Microsoft Surface

Microsoft’s Surface Duo series was the only time the company delved into foldable phones

Highlights

Microsoft mentions a “flexible display substrate” for the foldable phone
The hinge design is similar to the flex hinge of Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
Microsoft can reportedly soon launch Surface Pro 10 and Surface Laptop 6

Microsoft's latest patent application suggests that the company could be developing a technology for a foldable smartphone that will be quite different from its Surface Duo lineup. The company could try its hand at a ‘true foldable' design where a single foldable panel is used instead of two separate displays connected by a hinge. The patent mentions a spine cover plate for the central hinge, which appears similar to Samsung's flex hinge used in the Galaxy Z Fold 5.

The patent application was published at the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) on February 29 and was titled “Foldable Computing Device Spine Cover Plate”. Although the publishing date is recent, the document shows that the application was filed on December 14, 2022. Since the patent is about the hinge mechanism, not much is detailed about other aspects of the possible foldable smartphone.

It details a spine cover plate that will be placed on a vertical hinge axis and will support the first and second display-supporting frames. Further, the patent mentions a “flexible display substrate”. These descriptions along with numerous figures showing a single foldable display hint that this design is likely for a foldable smartphone. The application also delves into how the hinge mechanism will work. It explained that the central plate will have movable hinges that attach to the frame. The hinges will also contain multiple springs in opposing directions which will both hold the display frames in position and allow for smooth opening and closing of the device.

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While other aspects are not mentioned, it seems closer to the foldable smartphone from Samsung, Google, and OnePlus than its Surface Duo 2 that launched in 2022. This could mean that Microsoft might be planning to replace the Surface Duo form factor. This new patent application also corroborates a Windows Central report from last year, that mentioned that the tech giant had scrapped its plans to launch a Surface Duo 3.

Still, many questions remain about the potential foldable smartphone by Microsoft. It will be interesting to see whether it will have a secondary display on the front or will continue the book-style design and whether the wider form factor will be ditched for a leaner body. It should be noted that this is only a patent, and most times, they do not see a public launch.

Is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 the best foldable phone you can buy in India right now? We discuss the company's new clamshell-style foldable handset on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

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Microsoft Surface Duo 2

KEY SPECS
NEWS

Display (Primary) 5.80-inch

Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 888

Front Camera 12-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel + 16-megapixel + 12-megapixel

RAM 8GB

Storage 128GB

Battery Capacity 4449mAh

OS Android 11

Resolution 1344x1892 pixels

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Further reading: Microsoft, Foldable smartphones, Surface Duo

Akash Dutta Email Akash Dutta

Akash Dutta is a Senior Sub Editor at Gadgets 360. He is particularly interested in the social impact of technological developments and loves reading about emerging fields such as AI, metaverse, and fediverse. In his free time, he can be seen supporting his favourite football club - Chelsea, watching movies and anime, and sharing passionate opinions on food. More