TechPeripheralsI’d buy this in a heartbeat: Apple patents keyboard that turns an iPad into a MacBookFancy an iPad Pro that magically transforms into a MacBook Pro? I doWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
TechPeripheralsI’d buy this in a heartbeat: Apple patents keyboard that turns an iPad into a MacBookFancy an iPad Pro that magically transforms into a MacBook Pro? I doWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
Fancy an iPad Pro that magically transforms into a MacBook Pro? I do
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: Apple)
(Image credit: Apple)
I love myiPad, and I love myMacBook Pro. Wouldn’t it be great if they were the same device? Well, funnily enough, that’s somethingAppleappears to be at least considering.
Thanks toPatently Apple, we can see some of Apple’s bright ideas for blurring the lines between tablets and laptops. In a new patent granted this week, Apple has described a hinged keyboard mechanism that would effectively turn aniPadinto a MacBook Pro instead of just attaching a portable keyboard to it.
One attachment, many modes
The design Apple describes in thepatentis a base system with an electromechanical keyboard and a hinged coupler, which would attach to your iPad “in multiple different installation modes”, so in addition to a laptop mode you would be able to reverse the display so your device remains usable when it’s closed.
According to Apple the base potion may have “one or more input devices (e.g., keyboards, trackpads, touchscreen displays, and the like) for providing inputs to the tablet computing device” and may also have space for a magnetically connected and wireless charging Apple Pencil; it might also have a second display for additional output along the surface of the coupling mechanism. This might be an always-on display, “configured to maintain a static graphical output while in a powerless state”, that could show battery life and notifications.
As ever, patents don’t necessarily end up as products. But it’s interesting to think about what such a device might be like, and whether at heart iPads and Macs could effectively be the same.
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