Apple iPhone 5S
A woman holds her new Apple iPhone 5S after buying it at an Apple Store in Tokyo Reuters

The bid for bendable iPhones and iPods starts as Apple reportedly received patent describing bendable cases. It may find its way to the iPhone 6 if Apple can still work out the technology in time for the release. If it will take time for the company to release the technology instead this fall, this still proves that Apple wants to create more groundbreaking devices including smartphones and music players that will redefine mobile computing and entertainment. More importantly, the company has also patented a new small articles testing process opening up more opportunities.

According to the US Patent & Trademark Office, Apple received a patent grant revealing the company's continuing efforts to develop the cases of its iPod and iPhone series. The patent was filed originally back in January 2010. Whereas the system described in the patent was replaced with the Smart Case and Smart Cover series of the company, there is now the question why the tech giant is reviving such efforts.

Apple has reportedly been working on pushing the iPhone 6's display to extremes by reducing the brightness film to one along with sapphire and liquidmetal technology. The direction of the iPhone 6 supports the possibility of having more bendable handsets in the future.

According to Patently Apple, another patent grant describes Apple's work on "small articles." The new testing process deals with bending stresses and breakage points. What is interesting about these patent grants is that while Apple may have obtained approved application before relating to the technology, the company chose to tweak the patent claims. The tech giant added new descriptions to the original patent claims indicating terms like "flexible flap" and "flexible hinge."

One of the noteworthy parts of the patent describes an "iPad" portion. According to Patently Apple, the previous design was never carried out by the company. Likewise, the iPhone and iPod touch design was part of the previous patent claim. It makes people wonder why Apple is going back to the previous claims and reinventing them despite new approaches.

Analysts suggest that the company may be brewing something up. Tim Cook did say before that Apple will be a new company according to The Street. The patent application goes by the number 20140183068. Credited inventors of the patent application include Vinh Dieps and Matthew Rohrbach filed originally in Q1 2014.

The new manufacturing patent process goes by the title "Apparatus & Method for Breakage Testing of Small Articles." It involves a testing method and apparatus that can bend materials or units to a brittle article. It follows a similar system as with the bending tests done on ceramics and glass. According to the US Patent & Trademark Office, the patent goes by the number 20140182392.