Retractable keys. According to one of the patents deposited by Apple near the USPTO (American Patent Office) in 2019 and discovered by the site Patently Apple, Cupertino would work on a fairly … magic keyboard (easy, we know). It is (rai) t an input device that would be able to make you forget the few disappointments encountered by users of the “Butterfly” model in recent years? Possible.
If we correctly interpret the patent and the technical descriptions, the keys of this potential keyboard rest on a plate, itself mounted on a mechanism. Thanks to him, the keys would lift when the screen opens. And would lower as soon as the slab is lowered.
The whole could be animated by the magnetism of small magnets: they would catch or release the plate according to the position of the slab. The goal ? Plan a little more thickness of the machine and offer MacBook (For the Air) even finer.
Read also : iOS 14, macOS Big Sur, transition from Intel to ARM … All announcements from WWDC by Apple
Occupy space differently
This discovery is very interesting. Especially since Apple has planned to spend his computers under ARM. These are compact platforms and do not normally require dissipation systems that are too large to be cooled. Cupertino will therefore be able to gain millimeters in its case. First of all in height – but not only, which pushes him to also reduce the elevation of the keyboard keys. This bet is all the more difficult since it must not compromise the comfort of the keyboard.
Creating a cavity in which the keys could sag when the MacBook is closed should not pose many internal layout problems, at least on paper. And even by placing a large battery in the machine, there will still be room since the ARM motherboards are as – if not smaller – than those of future Intel Tiger Lake machines. « Nature doesn’t like emptiness “, Tech, either, any free space is good to fill.
Mini robot portrait of a future MacBook
For example and in theory, it would suffice to have the motherboard, lengthwise, on the upper part of the inner tray, where the screen hinge (Retina, 13 inches of course) is located. We would make holes on all this facet – hidden – of the case to dissipate the heat, in all discretion, passively or actively but with small fans very flat and fine.
Apple has already demonstrated that it can create ultra-flat “L” batteries for his smartphones. And multi-piece batteries for ses MacBook. Nothing would prevent it from positioning two face-to-face, to form a “U” and which would occupy all the remaining space. Autonomy, lightness, finesse and power … without forgetting a completely crazy keyboard: here is a hypothetical MacBook which arouses our interest and our curiosity.
Source : Patently Apple
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