This is it. VR/AR goggles are nice, but if you are sitting at a table somewhere there is no good way to do normal computer inputs. Voice is not private enough, hand tracking doesn't have enough fidelity (Though I'd imagine they will have a "project a keyboard on to a virtual desk" mode to act as a software keyboard.) They can fit some more impressive guts into the keyboard computer, but I'd imagine most processing would stay inside the headset.
The author didn’t even read the patent application. This is a patent for a foldable computing device, and it is absolutely mind-boggling. Click on the link to the application and look at claims 10 and 11, and paragraph [0094].
I don't think it would cost less, it would just include a keyboard, which is an expensive Apple item.
All I know is TV newscasters were using iPhones as their Internet device, when working from home first became mandatory. The iPhone would overhead and shut down. Imagine an iPhone trying to run Mac OS. iPad Pro would probably be okay. Apple needs to see if Mac OS would run on an iPad Pro. Then we don't need the mini at all. At the same time, what impact would Mac OS have on iPad battery life?
Patent mentions inductive charging, so it's battery powered. Portable = battery.
It's not patented yet, it's just an application. Whether or not the patent will be granted based on the pre-existing designs you mentioned is a completely different question.
The C64 was a slightly bulbous keyboard form factor, so arguably fits with the design currently in question. There's no real way to argue the Apple II was keyboard shaped. It was a large flat box with a keyboard attached to the sloping front of it (and is still one of the best computers ever made). The ZX80 and ZX81 were more Apple II-shaped, but arguments could be made for the Spectrum being keyboard shaped.
Apple is exploring the possibility of integrating a fully functioning Mac within a keyboard, reminiscent of home computers of the 80s, such as the Commodore 64 and Sinclair ZX Spectrum.
The concept was revealed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in a new Apple patent application called "Computer in an input device," which describes a thicker Magic Keyboard-style chassis with "all the components of a high performance computer" integrated under the hood.
The patent describes the premise for such a device, which could be plugged into a separate external display via a single I/O port designed to receive both data and power, and wirelessly paired with a trackpad or mouse for additional input.
By including the computing components in the keyboard, Apple suggests this could allow a user to carry a single device that can provide a desktop computing experience at any location having one or more external displays.
In some embodiments, the device includes a trackpad "coupled" to the enclosure, while in others the device is foldable and the keyboard area includes an "accessory display" showing graphics, or the keyboard itself is virtually displayed from a projector contained inside the enclosure.
The rest of the patent explores in detail various configurations of internal computer components within the space afforded by the keyboard chassis.
Apple has filed patents for keyboards in the past, including one that uses a touchscreen panel similar to the Touch Bar that extends to the entire keyboard layout, but this is the first patent to suggest actually incorporating a computer into the keyboard itself.
As with any filed patent, the technology is unlikely to appear in any product soon, if at all, but it does offer an interesting look at how Apple is considering Mac designs that could ultimately replace or be offered alongside the Mac mini, which allows users to bring their own display, keyboard, and mouse.
(Via Patently Apple.)
Article Link: Apple Imagines Mac-Inside-a-Keyboard Device Evocative of 80s Home Computers
Apple most assuredly already knows how Mac OS runs on the iPad Pro. They're famous for trying everything in the labs.
