Apple Seeks Flex Display with Force Detection Patent for GarageBand

Flexible, bendable display technology spend a lot of time in the headlines these days, and even Apple is getting swept by the fad, though not in the traditional sense. Rather than focus on display technologies that can fold, roll, or wrap around an object, one of Apple's newest patents is for a flex screen feature with force detection that it wants to tie directly to an application, such as GarageBand.

Patently Apple discovered the interesting patent application, which if granted and built upon, would eventually allow users to, say, press piano keys harder or softer depending on the sound they're looking for. A hard tap/press could result in a louder note or some other effect, more so than what you can already do with today's touch technology.


The latest patent builds on top of a previous one, in that Apple is seeking to link a flex screen directly to certain apps. As Apple explains the technology in its patent application, there would be flexible areas placed on different parts of the display. For everything to work smoothly, one or more driver chips may be required, such as a chip-on-glass (COG), chip-on-flex (COF), or gate-in-panel (GIP) to communicate with the TFT layer.