Apple has reportedly filed a patient for new screen technology, presumably intended for use in new models of iPhones, that involves ‘self-healing’ properties. Music to the ears of everyone who has ever spent hundreds of pounds replacing smartphone screens.

We’ve all cracked or shattered a smartphone screen at one time or another. Many of us multiple times. It’s as annoying and expensive as seemingly unavoidable. The sheer frequency with which we have our phone in our hands means it’s almost inevitable that we will let it slip occasionally.

For a while, smartphone screens were becoming more durable and I can personally attest to the fact that I’ve dropped my own phone enough times that I might have expected a cracked screen. But two and something years later, it’s holding strong.

Owners of the new generation of foldable smartphones, however, tend not to be so lucky. The bendable displays are very nice indeed. But unfortunately, also step back to former days of screen fragility, when even a seemingly innocuous meeting with a solid surface can result in fine, or less fine, cracks tracing out from a corner.

The patent recently filed by Apple, currently the most valuable company in the world with a market capitalisation of over $2 trillion, is for a foldable smartphone. There aren’t currently any foldable iPhone models and it would be a significant deviation from the tried and trusted designs, but the company clearly has one eye on the possibility. The model comes with a special new kind of cover that is designed to repair some kinds of screen damage automatically, without human intervention.

Foldable smartphones have proven a challenge for engineers, with their displays vulnerable to potential damage each time they are closed. Samsung this year delayed the release of its £1800 Galaxy Fold model by 5 months after reports prototypes sent to reviewers and journalists broke after a few days use. Samsung had believed the model would endure being unfolded as many as 200,000 times, which often didn’t prove to be the case.

Apple’s patent was actually filed in January but has just now become public. It says the technology being patented could self-heal automatically when not in use, either at a set time or while charging. The technology would work by the foldable phone’s flexible coating detecting any dents, which it would then fill “without external intervention”. The phone might also be able to repair its own screen by using its own source of heat, light or an electrical current.

The patent also details that the screen could come with a layer of elastomer, protecting the area of the display that folds. Elastomer works a little like a memory foam mattress and can lose then regain its shape.

CCS Insight analyst Ben Wood comments:

“Scratched and smashed screens are the bane of smartphone owners’ lives so it is little surprise that companies like Apple are trying to find ways to mitigate accidental damage. It’s not the first time we’ve seen phone makers try to add ‘self-healing’ capabilities: it was something that LG tried in 2013, however the results were underwhelming.”

There is, of course, a possibility that the technology will never see the light of day. Companies, especially big tech companies, often file patents for new technologies they are working on that are never actually deployed in products. Apple has, as far as it is known, no imminent plans to release foldable iPhone models. So it could be either a few years before it does, or it may never.

Eventually, however, new smartphones produced by different companies can be expected to see developments in new screen technology designed to alleviate the long standing issue of cracks and dents.