New iPads are nice, however longtime Apple customers have all the time wished to see a touchscreen Mac, one thing alongside the strains of the Microsoft Surface. Stories of such a tool by Apple have barely surfaced (pun supposed) lately, however a brand new patent affords some hope that itt should at some point arrive.
Apple was lately granted a patent by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Workplace that covers precisely this. Patent 11,320,869 is titled, “Hinged keyboard accent having a number of set up modes for a pill computing gadget” and describes a pill accent that matches the outline of a Magic Keyboard-like gadget. The majority of the patent explains how the accent would work–the way it attaches/detaches to a pill, how it may be folded, how a stylus can be utilized, and extra.
The patent additionally consists of illustrations of a pill with a macOS-like interface. The illustrations clearly present what’s a macOS Finder, with a menu bar, menu bar icons, Mac-like home windows, and desktop icons.
Whereas the patent constantly refers back to the accent as one for a “pill,” no particular point out of “iPad” is made all through the submitting. With the illustrations in thoughts, it seems that Apple could possibly be growing a Mac pill with a touchscreen, and this accent would work with it.
This isn’t the primary time Apple has explored a Mac hybrid gadget. Again in July 2023, Apple was granted a patent for “Modularized computing and input devices,” which describes a MacBook-like gadget with detachable elements that may be interchanged with one another. For instance, two shows will be related to work with one keyboard/trackpad. It’s not clear if these two patents are alongside the identical product line, but it surely’s clear that Apple is in search of methods to evolve Mac {hardware}.
It’s vital to notice that Apple (like each different firm) information patents on a regular basis for units that by no means really get launched to most people. If these merchandise are authorised for manufacturing, it’s going to take years earlier than they attain the market.