Clamshell design

A Motorola MicroTac flip phone demonstrating clamshell design (1989)

Two schools of clamshell design: bio-design influenced Apple iBook (1999) and Bento box-like ThinkPad T43p (2005)

A clamshell design is a kind of form factor for electronic devices in the shape of a clam shell. The design has been applied to handheld game consoles, mobile phones (where it is often called a "flip phone"), and especially laptops. Clamshell devices are usually made of two sections connected by a hinge, each section containing either a flat panel display or an alphanumeric keyboard/keypad, which can fold into contact together like a bivalve shell.

Generally speaking, the interface components such as keys and display are kept inside the closed clamshell, protecting them from damage and unintentional use while also making the device shorter or narrower so it is easier to carry around. In many cases, opening the clamshell offers more surface area than when the device is closed, allowing interface components to be larger and easier to use than on devices which do not flip open. A disadvantage of the clamshell design is the connecting hinge, which is prone to fatigue or failure.^{[citation needed]}

The clamshell design is most popularly recognized in the context of mobile cellular phones. The term "flip phone" is used more frequently than "clamshell" in colloquial speech, especially when referring to a phone where the hinge is on the short edge - if the hinge is on a long edge, more akin to a laptop (e.g., Nokia Communicators), the device is more likely to be called just a "clamshell" rather than a flip phone. In the 1990s and early 2000s, what is now called "flip" phones were more commonly known as "folder" or "folding" phones, whereas "flip phone" referred to a now obsolete form factor most notably seen on the Motorola MicroTAC^[1] - Motorola itself held the "Flip Phone" trademark until 2005.^[2]