A NEW patent filing suggests that Apple may be considering making a solar-powered iPhone.

Apple has filed a patent for the technology which would enable a layer of solar cells to be inserted under a touch-sensitive screen of the sort used in the iPhone, reports said.

The patent, when it is awarded, has the potential to make the iPhone a truly portable device, dispensing with the need for it to be connected to a power supply by wires, the Times of London said.

There is usually little room for solar panels on portable devices, once space taken up by the screen and keypad is taken into account - a fact which has plagued previous attempts to power MP3 players and cellphones via the sun.

But Apple's patent would get round the problem by stacking the solar cells underneath both the touch-sensitive screen and the LCD, according to The New York Times.