After years of minimal improvements in the smartphone market, Samsung finally shook things up by replacing some box-edged screens with a curvy display, Digital Spy said.

While the feature's actual functionality is pretty minimal, its neat aesthetics have proven popular enough for the company to contemplate ditching standard displays altogether.

Before that happens, though, rival Apple could be looking to get in on the edgy fun.

The Cupertino company has been granted a new patent for "electronic devices with sidewall displays", filed in April of last year.

It suggests future iPhones could come with curved screens, with the document indicating edge displays may function as virtual buttons, virtual switches or information displays that are supplemental to front side displays.

Basically, a potential iPhone with edge display would work just like Samsung's Galaxy S7 Edge or the Galaxy Note 7.

As with all of the quadrillion patents Apple files, it's possible this feature never makes its way to a working iPhone. With big aesthetic changes expected to come in 2017, though, it would be a surprise if Apple continued to roll with a standard display, Digital Spy said.