Apple may be making some major changes to the design of the iPhone and iPad.

Among the Apple patents published this week by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is one in which Apple may place a second display on the back of a device "configured to display text, color, line art, photographs, animation, video, etc."

Why would this be important, as Patently Apple points out, the main purpose of a rear display seems to be to improve photography of people, as it could provide a "stimulus feature" that would make the subject smile or laugh at the moment the shutter closes.

Below, Patently Apple imagines an example where the iPad shows an animoji panda at the same time the subject takes the photo.

The report mentions that the second screen could include classic Apple features like multi-touch, but its main appeal may be something simpler: selfie quality. Front-facing cameras on cell phones tend to be inferior to rear-facing cameras. A screen on the back would allow iPhone and iPad users to see themselves and greatly improve the quality of their selfies. [If the rear camera suddenly becomes selfie-friendly, the front camera could be removed altogether, eliminating the need for a notch and opening the door to a true full-screen display. But that would be going too far. Apple's Face ID relies on a series of clever sensors on the front of the screen, so the TrueDepth camera will not be going away anytime soon.

Many patents will never see the light of day, and if they do, they may not appear in the form originally imagined. However, the final iPhone Flip or iPhone 14 may feature something like this.