Apple is working on a foldable phone. And if a new patent application is anything to go by, the company seems to have figured out a way to make future foldables stand out from the likes of the Galaxy Flip Z and Motorola Razr.

Apple's folding phone patent, spotted by 9to5Mac, describes a phone that folds on a hinge, as many of the devices available today do. However, unlike devices in which the screen folds in half, this Apple patent describes a cell phone in which the folding is offset so that part of the main screen remains exposed when the device is closed.

That exposed screen serves as a notification center for incoming messages, upcoming appointments, alarms, and other contextual information. Apple's patent also suggests that the screen could be interactive even when the phone is closed.

Current smartphones rely on a separate external screen for this type of notification. In the case of devices like Samsung's Galaxy Fold, it is a 4.6-inch display, while the Galaxy Z Flip makes do with a 1.1-inch strip. In both cases, there is no exposed internal display as described in Apple's folding phone patent.

Of course, there is a big difference between a patent that theorizes how something works and a mass-produced device that actually works that way. Apple has a number of patents covering a variety of folding phone approaches, ranging from the use of a movable flap over the hinge to double-folding designs. In other words, patents are no guarantee that Apple's foldable phone will look like the one depicted.

Still, many believe that a foldable iPhone is inevitable, and some predict that such a device could appear within the next year. It is unlikely to be this fall, when Apple is expected to go all out to launch the iPhone 12, and there is nothing in the rumors surrounding those models to suggest that there will be a foldable device.