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And this is why Apple could never go back to Intel. Their future design is a quiet natively cooled chip not requiring a fan.
Didn't Apple give us a fanless Mac with an Intel chip in the 12 inch MacBook?

Do you think Intel will stagnate and not offer lower powered and more powerful chips in the future?

Intel's building at least 2 new advanced fabs in the U.S. to produce 5nm and smaller chips.

That said, even if Intel offered chips that Apple could use, I don't think Apple would use them since Apple wants more control over their products.
 
Sign us up. For part of my work year we travel around with a bunch of crates packed full MacMinis, keyboards, trackpads, external SSDs, magic mice, etc... this would eliminate the vast bulk of stuff we'd need to carry around on our multi-month trips. If an all in one Mac keyboard ran as well as other M1 Macs, had bluetooth, HDMI or a breakout dongle we'd buy 50 of them on launch day at least, and trade-in all our MacMinis. I think Apple's been listening to their customers here, possibly. Give us enough internal storage and we can just toss them into our carry-on's as most places we go have monitors available already. I'm smiling just thinking about tossing a slightly thicker keyboard, mouse, tiny SSD maybe, and a power cord into my carry on and ebaying all these hard cases...
 
This makes far more sense than an iMac. Give me a computer with a separate monitor any day, AIOs are environmental disasters.

Apple deliberately make difficult to open and service Macs and especially the iMac. Your issue is not with the iMac, it's with Apple. Apple could easily put six screws on the back where you could remove the entire back to replace their various components. In their die-hard goal for profit above users and all else they make the iMac near-impossible to service. This has zero to do with the fact that iMac is an AIO.
 
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Great idea! Just like my 1982 Timex Sinclair computer. Hopefully they will charge $99 too.
 
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I’d rather a phone that can plug into a dock and shows a MacOS desktop on the screen. Make the iPhone a literal portable computer that can go with your anywhere and be used anyplace there’s a dock available.
 
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How about, instead of hiding a Mac inside a keyboard, Apple "hides" one inside an iPhone?! If that future iPhone had a USB-C connector instead of Lightning, it could directly hook to an external monitor. And you wouldn't need a new piece of hardware - just bring a bluetooth keyboard and mouse with you. Two more things to carry just as with this patent.
You beat me to it! This is exactly what I want: MacOS that activates when connected to an external screen.
 
People love acting like one patent filling means the product is gonna be announced tomorrow.

They clearly have no idea.
I think we have every idea - it shows how boasts about Apples hundreds or thousands of patent applications may be just be legal insanity - trying to lock down every idea or variation just in case something comes up that they can sue for. Whatever happened to genuine innovation - although I guess that is for tiny companies that they get purchased by the big boys.
 
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Its pretty funny that Apple would be the one to do this. But they charged real computer prices for those keyboard computers back then. So what is the point of this? I hope they are not putting design over function again. They could make a mac mini the size of their current Apple TV. What would be the end goal for something like this?

I would only want to own one if this turns an iPad (not just the most expensive one) into a full fledged Mac OS running Mac. Even though the iPad itself is fully capable of running the Mac OS. If they didn't separate it into two expensive items they wouldnt be able to figure out how to successfully charge more for them. So its probably profits over function.
 
How can any company patent something like this, when as the first sentence of this piece says, this is how all home computers were like 40 years ago?
My sentiments, exactly. The US patent system is just horribly broken. As many have already pointed out, not only was this idea prevalent during the 1980's but companies still use this form factor, i.e. the Raspberry Pi 400. I can't imagine that Apple can legitimately obtain this patent. At the very least there are a number of parties that could claim prior art and shoot the whole thing down.

The viability of a Mac OS based product is purely marketing. A dumbed down Mac mini to keep the mini from cannibalizing iMac Pro and Mac Pro would be one use. The rumors of M1 Pro / Max Mac minis are somewhat suspect, in my opinion, as it seems to me many people would buy a mini instead of a similarly specked iMac. However, I doubt this form factor would sell at all in today's marketplace.

This also highlights Mac OS's disgraceful lack of support for MST. You need an available port and yet another cable for every display you want to use. The whole point of Thunderbolt is daisy chaining.
 
This makes so much sense to me.

Keyboard Mac + Thunderbolt Display.

Keyboard Mac + 12.9" iPad that can be used as target display when desired. A (likely overpriced) Magic Folio case to join them together when traveling.

Keyboard Mac + TV via Airplay or HDMI for when on the couch.

iSynergy.
 
Everything old is new again!

Pretty interesting idea. It's basically a laptop without the screen, right?

Perhaps you'd be able to use an iPad as a monitor...
Seems like a trackpad (or similar) on the keyboard/computer would also be useful...

Indeed. Take any laptop, break the screen and you get exactly this...
 
If it is cheap and more or less a slimmed down Mac mini I would buy it in heartbeat! Loved my ZX Spectrum although the graphic circuit left something to be desired.
Problem with my statement is that it should be relatively cheap and even though I love Apple, cheap doesn't come to mind when I think of Apple. 😁
 
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