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Apple Creating iMac-like Docking Station
- Thread starter MacHiavelli
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you beat me by two minutes!
They also have a cool keyboard patent
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/apple-patents-a-maxiumus-alike-keyboard-imac-macbook-dock/
They also have a cool keyboard patent
http://www.engadget.com/2008/01/03/apple-patents-a-maxiumus-alike-keyboard-imac-macbook-dock/
That is certainly a Different way of doing things. It must have a DVI Connector in there or something to allow the laptop to connect to the screen.
That seems weird, I don't really see any point in it.
If the dock is a whole computer with an ability to dock a laptop, it's kinda weird because you can only use one of them at the same time. It's like having a desktop computer and then unplugging all peripherals and replugging them into your laptop - why would you do that on a regular basis? In my experience, dock users usually have powerful laptops and use them as primary systems and docks just provide them with easily available extensions.
On the other hand, if it's just a monitor, it's awkward because you can only use that single Apple display, they don't give you any choices.
I'd prefer they just release a regular dock - not having one is currently a major downside of their laptop range.
If the dock is a whole computer with an ability to dock a laptop, it's kinda weird because you can only use one of them at the same time. It's like having a desktop computer and then unplugging all peripherals and replugging them into your laptop - why would you do that on a regular basis? In my experience, dock users usually have powerful laptops and use them as primary systems and docks just provide them with easily available extensions.
On the other hand, if it's just a monitor, it's awkward because you can only use that single Apple display, they don't give you any choices.
I'd prefer they just release a regular dock - not having one is currently a major downside of their laptop range.
Yeah that look pretty interesting. But screen should have also possibility to work with other devices
Let's chalk this one up next to the Folio. Is anyone going to really shell out a ton of money for a "companion product" like that?
Apple Creating iMac-like Docking Station
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A patent application submitted in 2006 and published for the first time today has revealed that Apple is working on a docking station for portable computers, the exterior of which closely resembles Apple's iMac line of desktop computers.
![iMacDock_300.jpg]()
Apple argues that its docking station concept is superior in that it requires less desk space due to its vertical orientation. It is also simpler, as the display is integrated and wireless network technologies will be employed for communication between the dock and the portable.
There has been some speculation around the internet that the patent could be tied to the rumored Apple ultra-portable. While the timing of the publication is interesting, the application itself remains generic in nature, and appears to be applicable to any notebook computer.
Raw Data: Patent Application #20080002350
Article Link
A patent application submitted in 2006 and published for the first time today has revealed that Apple is working on a docking station for portable computers, the exterior of which closely resembles Apple's iMac line of desktop computers.
Apple argues that its docking station concept is superior in that it requires less desk space due to its vertical orientation. It is also simpler, as the display is integrated and wireless network technologies will be employed for communication between the dock and the portable.
There has been some speculation around the internet that the patent could be tied to the rumored Apple ultra-portable. While the timing of the publication is interesting, the application itself remains generic in nature, and appears to be applicable to any notebook computer.
Raw Data: Patent Application #20080002350
Article Link
I wonder if the dock will have an integrated LCD and the whole laptop just tucks in behind it, or if it will be an open area that a Mac tablet (with multi-touch?) would slide into, as kontheur mocked up:
![imac_touch.jpg]()
Let's hope that Apple works out the kinks... and makes it a little bit classier than the... uh...
![apple_duodock_1.jpg]()
pffff --- this looks old/fake
if it is a concept, they have no reason to be that precise in their drawing (imac looking "dock", thick macbook, apple logos etc..) - just compare these drawings to the "sliding-icons-iphone" patent drawings that looks much more generic as any patent application should be (in my view).....
Also it looks really similar to the old performa duo series and would not really need any "concept" patent as this one seems to be.
I am not impressed...
if it is a concept, they have no reason to be that precise in their drawing (imac looking "dock", thick macbook, apple logos etc..) - just compare these drawings to the "sliding-icons-iphone" patent drawings that looks much more generic as any patent application should be (in my view).....
Also it looks really similar to the old performa duo series and would not really need any "concept" patent as this one seems to be.
I am not impressed...
I think this is more for the mbp, mb, or rumored ultra-portable where the screen would not be available when closed and tucked away.
Now we're talking.
I can imagine this being a little too lofty for the average Joe but if you have the money
This would actually be cool. Inside the dock, there should be a huge hard drive to make up for the lack of one in the sub-notebook. Unfortunately, the patent doesn't read like this mock up.
I don't know that such a design makes sense. Consider that a tablet would need to have all if not most of the innards required to be a fully functional computer. I've seen other patents that suggest Apple's design for a tablet would be the tablet docks to an armature like the L-curve one that holds up the Apple Cinema displays. In such a case, the tablet is the display face, rather than sliding into an empty case that serves little or no purpose other than to be a large unwieldy shell that does nothing on its own.
Although that mockup is indeed sexy, it also scares the crap out of me. A 20" multi-touch tablet? What one earth would one use that for?
Now we're talking.
I can imagine this being a little too lofty for the average Joe but if you have the money
Lofty because that mockup would be a 24 inch HD tablet? We're talking 10 inches people, 12 tops, you would probably like to have a bigger desktop screen. And if that screen had it's own graphics card, hd and optical drive; then the solution becomes ever more svelte. I actually like it, and hope it is an option!
Zip disk? No, it's a whole computer!