Imagine for a moment an iPhone where the device not only has a front-facing screen but also displays along the sides of it.

You might wonder why these would ever be useful, but we can think of a few scenarios: why waste space on your home screen with battery life notifications and your signal strength? It’s possible these could be displayed on the side. Or what about a constant news feed? Alerts from Facebook? Music controls? One could be in bed and look over at the nightstand and see these alerts without having to pick the phone up.

We have no certain idea that this is what Apple is imagining, but the tech could make it possible. Apple recently applied for such a patent, and it’s titled “Electronic devices with sidewall displays.”

The company also applied for another patent called “Flexible electronic devices,” which imagines a flexible iPhone. While flexible screens could certainly be employed, we’re worried about the rest of the internal guts of a phone that aren’t flexible. Batteries, circuit boards and other components are still not able to be bent.

Still, we can see that Apple isn’t slowing down with its constant push to create new technology. After all, it also recently applied for a patent for an iPhone with a full wraparound display.