Apple Visualizes a Mac Carved Out of a Single Glass Sheet | TechTree.com

Apple Visualizes a Mac Carved Out of a Single Glass Sheet

The company has filed a patent with the US government for a desktop device that puts sci-fi movies to shame

 

Apple has been and will be a design company. That it uses technology to articulate its designs and implement the best user experience is incidental. Think of the form factors that Apple played with right from its inception. When computers were ungainly boxes, the Mac made them look cool. When mobile phones were blocks of plastic, they launched the iPhone.

Today, Apple has enough and more cash surplus in its accounts and if they’re imagining ideas beyond the realms of sci-fi imagination, who’s to complain? In the past they’ve applied and received patents for all kinds of imaginative devices that may never see fruition. And, the latest to join these ranks is an iMac desktop carved out of a single piece of glass.

The company has already applied for a patent with the US Patent and Trademark Office and there’s no reason to believe that they won’t get it. Meanwhile, we can only but drool at the level of imagination that the Apple design team continues to showcase, nearly a decade after their inspirational designer-in-chief Steve Jobs passed on to pastures greener.

So, what’s so great about this curved glass design? The patent describes it as an electronic device with a top portion that serves as a display area with the bottom portion being input area and a traditional connecting section being a “continuous curved surface” that is seamless. The lower section rests on the desktop while the flat area functions as the display panel.

The overall thickness (or the lack of it) of the curved glass on this desktop device suggests that the stand would double up as the housing for components that would fire it up. Can’t readily recall either James Bond or Ethan Hunt playing with something like this on celluloid. But, that’s not all. The glass between the two sections is flexible and can change the angle between the display and input areas.

Which brings us to the input area itself that houses a touchscreen display with functions such as keyboard, wireless charging etc. available right there with the addition of a camera built into the enclosure glass using what has been described as an “optically transmissive material”. The company says the device would be glass though the housing may contain plastic or ceramic.

The patent application goes on to describe the design as having special features such as wireless charging support scratch resistance and the ability to detect touch and force. The biometric sensors installed would be capable of detecting everything from fingerprints, to eyes and heart rate to blood oxygenation levels.

Of course, there is no clarity that the device in question is actually an iMac as the patent describes it as an electronic device and a desktop computer. Is there a possibility that Apple is indeed moving to the next generation of iPads as this unique game-changer completes a decade of its existence?

Of course, there is no way of knowing whether Apple is serious enough on this front as the world is still struggling with curved smartphones.


TAGS: Apple, iMac, iPad, Patent, Steve Jobs, Tim Cook, USPTO

 
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